Endure And Survive
by DarylDixon'sLover
Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.
1. A New Beginning

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Loosely following season 9.

 **So, I know it's been a while but we hope you enjoy this story.**

Endure and Survive

Chapter 1

* * *

The weather outside was pleasant but windy as a young dark blonde-haired woman searched through an abandoned town. Debbie Abrams sighed grimly and surveyed the abandoned hospital. Hopefully, this place would have supplies that included medicine. She looked at where her brother-in-law, Lucas Williams, was rummaging through the cars.

She shook her head in disgust when he put a bottle of whisky in his backpack. Typical that he would prioritize getting alcohol over getting medicine, food and fuel. Regular kind of man, he was.

She might be partially deaf, but she wasn't stupid. She headed into the hospital entrance and held her machete tightly by the handle. She went down to the paediatric ward, looking around. Some of the windows were smashed. There were dead bodies on the floor in states of decomposition, and dried blood stained the flooring.

Debbie shook her head as she checked the medical cabinet and found some cough medicine, which was probably past it's sell by date. She did manage to find bandages, gauze and some alcohol for medical use.

Shoving it into her backpack she searched for anymore supplies but couldn't find any aside from two IV drips. She started heading back to where Lucas was, when she heard yelling outside.

Oh Christ, what had Lucas gotten himself into now? Knowing her luck, he'd probably ended up getting hurt. She sighed, and quickly hurried down the hallway. Once she turned, she froze.

Coming towards her and Lucas was the largest herd of walkers that Debbie had seen in her life, since the outbreak had occurred seven years ago.

"Run!" she yelled at Lucas. He ran ahead of her as she started running from the herd of walkers. Was it her imagination but had one of them spoke?

'Don't look back, just keep running Deb,' she thought frantically, trying to stay calm despite the fear running through her. Christ, she was going to kill Lucas.

She looks around quickly, trying to see if she could find some sort of entrance around them to get out. But all of them seemed to be closing in. Her eyes move to where Lucas was and found him nowhere to be seen. Her rage intensifies. That fucker had abandoned her.

She quickly wipes out her knife and stabs it into one of the walkers, but before she could somehow push her way through, there was a sharp pain on her right wrist. She looks around and slams her knife into the walker that was currently taking a chomp out of her skin. She stares at it in shock before pushing her mind to leave. No…no, no….

Debbie runs through the walkers and into the woods, as fast as her body could take her. As fast as her mind would allow her. Every single bit of her body was yelling at her to stop running, to just relax and let herself breathe, but she couldn't. Not now. Not ever.

Her eyes snap back towards the bite on her wrist. Her…her wrist…

She had been bit. She had been bit. She…she was going to die.

"…. fuck," she sobs. After her years of fighting, of avoiding stupid shit like this, she had been taken down by a lone walker. She was dead meat.

Finally, she allows herself to lean against the tree, tears starting to stream down her cheeks. She was dead. That was was going to die. Her family nowhere to be seen. And her life in shambles. Fuck.

* * *

Daryl looked down at the Saviors that were trying to keep the Sanctuary going. Constantly, there were people always either bickering or sighing about the crops not growing. Nothing was working for real in this place. And no matter how many times he would try and say this to Rick, it wouldn't work. He hated taking over this place. The one area that had drove him almost to a point of insanity. The one place where he had nearly lost his will to live. And Rick had put him in charge. Smart choice.

He sighs and shakes his head. This was ridiculous. At this point, he wanted to be out on the road rather than in here. To feel the stares of the people he used to fight. To hear the whispered words that transferred from mouth to mouth on a daily basis. He hated it so much. Every bit of it.

He wondered what it would be like back on the road again.

He loved his family. He loved a lot of them, as much as he didn't talk about it. He cared for Carol like a sister and was happy for her and was happy for everyone, but there were times where he didn't want to lead. He never wanted to lead. But if it was what he had to do, it was what he had to do.

And he hated it.

He hated that Negan was still breathing, while Glenn, Carl, Abraham, Eric, Sasha and countless others were dad. He wished he was with his brothers at the Hilltop, rather than here, and hang out with Beth, and Maggie.

He nodded at Laura and she nodded back before going back into the factory to get some seeds. He glanced around the yard and saw Arat and Justin trying to use a walker as a scarecrow, like they used to do, under the pretence to scare off the crows. Now he was pissed off. He stormed over towards the two of them as they looked up his approach. He was mad and glared at them warningly.

He put the walker down with his crossbow, glaring at them before going to get ready for the supply run that was going to the museum to get farming equipment.

He was done with this shit. He didn't want to lead these people. The people who had mocked him and taunted him.

* * *

Debbie numbly walked back to the Commonwealth Safe Zone and stood outside the gates. She didn't know if she could bring herself to tell her older brothers, sister and niece that she'd been bitten. God, how the hell were they gonna react to this? She could only imagine how Zoe was going to react. Her niece was only sixteen years old, but wise beyond her years.

Eve had raised her well. She was proud of her older sister. Debbie sighed quietly, as she looked at the crescent moon shaped scar that was on her right wrist. Surprisingly it didn't hurt, but that might be the adrenaline pulsing through her veins at the moment.

She slumped onto the ground and looked at her pistol. Maybe if she could just get into the safe zone to say her goodbyes...then she'd be able to do the next thing.

"Debs? What are you doing out here?" Eve's voice asked concerned. She turned to see her older sister's soft but weary light blue eyes looking at her.

Debbie swallowed and held out her right wrist. It was the only way she could tell her sister without crying or going into a rage. Eve stared at her in denial, and shook her head.

"No, no, no. After everything we've been through, after everything we've done, I am not letting you go out this way! How long ago were you bit?" Eve asked quickly, trying to stay calm.

Debbie looked at her arm briefly, frowning as she realized that it was almost six hours since she'd been bitten by the walker in the abandoned town.

"Six hours, Eve," she said quietly. Eve didn't hesitate as she grabbed her, and they rushed to the safe zone. The gates were open, and they went to Georgie.

Maybe she could help them.

* * *

Daryl glared at the graffiti that said, _'WE ARE STILL NEGAN!'_ , on the wall and glared at Arat and Justin. He knew they were behind this. He barely reigned in his temper.

"Clean that shit up now!" He growled angrily. He stormed upstairs as he saw Rick come up to join him. Daryl finally had enough. He wasn't staying here anymore.

"I don't wanna be leader of this place, Rick. This place is a factory, it ain't gonna grow crops. I'm gonna go back to Hilltop, see Maggie, the baby and my family," Daryl said firmly, refusing to budge on this.

"Someone's gonna have to take your place; you know, that right?" Rick asked finally and continued. "You should come back to Alexandria; things have changed." Rick argued impatiently. Daryl glared at him.

"It's because ya changed them Rick, not us. I'm goin' back to the Hilltop, and that's my final word," Daryl said warningly, and stormed out of the factory.

Rick watched him go, feeling frustrated.

But for once, Daryl didn't care what Rick said. All he wanted to do was go somewhere they he thought he might be able to be remotely happy. Not even a bit, just remotely. And he knew if he was at least near his family he could be.

Not near these fuckers.

* * *

Once Debbie had gone to Georgie to see what they could do, they determined that it was too long to risk anything close to cutting off her arm. They just had to wait it out. Her family wasn't taking it so well. Most were crying or saying it couldn't be true. Luke was nowhere to be seen. Fucking bastard.

The strange thing was, it really didn't hurt. Even after the adrenaline wore off. After all that, she felt...fine. But she still cooperated because she knew that sometimes placebo effect was a bitch.

They gently handcuff her to the bed, like that really mattered, and all sobbed. Each one of them said a teary goodbye and Debbie had quietly asked them to leave her be for a while. They complied and left the room.

The young woman lays her head against her pillow. Just years ago, she had been doing what she wanted to do, a teacher, learning how the mind words of younger people; surviving. But now here she was, dying due to her fucktard of a brother in law. Was he her brother in law? She had never gotten married to her fiancé from before the turn. Honestly the sad part was that she hardly remembered him.

Love barely existed in this world.

Debbie lays her head down, closing her eyes. It would be any second now. Hopefully. Quick and easy.

She still. Hadn't. Turned.

It had been three full days now. The CDC had said the virus would have killed anyone by now. But she was alive.

She was...alive.

Suddenly, the door opens, and someone is standing there with a knife and keys to the handcuffs. But stop short when they see she was still very much breathing.

"You're..." the person runs before she could say anything. She was just as confused as the next guy. She was alive.

Was...was she...immune?

How the hell was that even possible? People turned after being bitten either hours later, or a day later. How could she have survived being bitten by a walker?

The next thing Debbie knew was that Cain, Ethan, Eve and her daughter Zoe were running into the bedroom, crying or just simply hugging her tightly.

"Oh my god, Deb, you haven't turned. You're immune to the walker virus, sis," Eve said breathlessly through tears of relief and joy. Cain and Ethan simply held her hands.

Zoe had refused to let go of her, and was clinging onto her tightly, scared that her aunt would disappear if she let go. Debbie kissed her forehead reassuringly. She was alive...she had somehow fucking survived not turning into a walker, and infecting anyone.

* * *

Daryl helped Cyndie carry the canoe down the stairs and they carefully walked over the glass flooring. Walkers ambled about underneath it. He carefully helped her put it over the wagon, and then turned to help Maggie and the others, helping them carry down the wagon with ropes. He nodded at Joel, his older brother nodding at him. They managed to get the wagon across, when the damn glass finally broke. Ezekiel fell in but was clinging to the rope.

Daryl ran over and fired an arrow atone of the walkers, as Carol pulled up Ezekiel. She kissed him in relief, thankful he lived another day. They carefully left the museum and got to the wagons rode by the horses.

"Heard you and Rick had a disagreement earlier on. Everythin' alright?" Joel asked quietly. They made sure they had everything, the two of them staying near the back. Daryl nodded.

"He didn't want me to step down as leader of the Sanctuary, and the Saviours. I didn't belong there, so I'm goin' back to the Hilltop, with ya and the others. I can't let myself stay there anymore," Daryl explained finally. He knew that his older brother would understand.

Joel looked at him quietly, and a rare smile tugged at his mouth. Daryl knew his brother rarely smiled since losing Sarah at the beginning of the apocalypse, but finding Ellie was like showing his brother again.

Shit, Merle would be proud.

"We'll be happy to have you home, Daryl. We've all missed you. Ellie's been missing her uncle Daryl," he teased, secretly happy that his brother was returning to the Hilltop. She had been wanting to go out hunting more with him.

All of them, including Beth, had known that Daryl had loathed being leader of the Saviors. Being in the place that had tortured and humiliated him.

Daryl smiled at his brother relived, and they both started following the wagon down, as he and Rosita scouted ahead. Joel turned his attention on Rick and Michonne and decided to have a chat with them.

* * *

Maggie watched quietly as Rick and Michonne went to talk to Joel about Daryl. She knew it was gonna get ugly. Enid and Ellie were talking about comics and the newborn foal being born at Hilltop, so luckily, they didn't have to pay attention to what they were saying. She peeks around the corner.

"You need to realize, Rick, that putting Daryl in charge of the Saviors and Sanctuary was a bad idea. He don't wanna lead them, and they don't like us. Open your damn eyes and realize that the Saviors don't wanna be helped," he said resentfully. Rick frowned.

"Daryl can stay at Alexandria," he said firmly. "He's always worked well from there." Joel glared at him incredulously, as did Maggie.

"Do you really think Daryl wants to be in charge of the place that had people humiliate and nearly kill him. Jesus, Rick, you are stupid," Joel said contemptuously, and went off to talk with Maggie.

Rick shakes his head and moves away. Maggie looks at Joel, who was grumbling to himself. "You know he's always welcomed at Hilltop, right?" Joel sighs before nodding.

"I know he is. It's why he's coming back. But I hate that Rick keeps forcin' him to stay. It's tearing him apart. I can see it." He turns to Maggie. "Lemme put it this way. If Merle was still here, even his dumbass could tell that Daryl is barely hanging on."

Maggie's brow raises, nodding. She knew that was a serious thing. "He'll be safe there."

* * *

"You okay?"

Daryl looks up from where he was sharpening his knife. Beth had come over once they had settled back in Hilltop from their run. One of the people had been bit so they had to bury him, but he tried to stay back as far as he could. He didn't want to piss anyone off.

"Yeah, I'm good." She sits next to him and his eyes go towards her head. Her scar from where she had been shot was very visible, but she almost wore it like a medal of honour. He had to give her props for that. Girl had grown up a lot.

"We both know you're not."

Daryl sighs before placing his knife on the ground. "I just don't want to go back to Sanctuary, Beth. No one there respects a single word I say or what anyone says. I just want to stay here but Rick is being a little dick about it."

Beth shrugs her shoulders. "Then just stay. You're a grown man, Daryl. You can do what you want. You don't have to obey Rick when you're the one unhappy. If you want to stay here, then stay here."

Daryl looks at her quietly before sighing. "I know. Gonna do that…just hope it doesn't end badly."

Beth squeezes his shoulder. "It won't. Trust me."

* * *

"I can't believe this."

Debbie watched as Georgie paced back and forth, shaking her head. "Neither can I," she says back, her hand ghosting over her right wrist. "I don't feel sick or hurt. It's just there."

Georgie looks around at her, shaking her head. "Still…this is insane. Do you know what this means, Debbie?" She shakes her head. "Whatever you have in your blood stream, whatever is moving through you…that can be a change for you. That can be the cure to all of humanity. If we could somehow make it god…." She looks down at the walkie talkie on her desk. "We need to get you somewhere."

Debbie's brow furrows. "To where?"

Georgie looks at her as the rest of Debbie's family gathers around. "There is a group of scientists still alive constantly trying to find a solution to what is happening. They have stations all throughout the country that you could go to and tell them that you are immune. That community, Hilltop. We gave them those favours ages ago with the book and this is how they can repay us, by getting you safely across the country for the rest of us. This would be perfect."

Debbie's' brow furrows. "What're the name of the scientists? Or the group leading them?"

"Dr. Marlene Foster. She's the leader and the lead scientist of the group who has spent years trying to find a cure. She worked with Dr. Jenner, and the French to find a cure," Georgie explained excitedly. She was thrilled this was happening. "I'll let you all have something to eat, and then we'll go to the Hilltop Colony and discuss this with them," she said patiently, and left them alone in the apartment.

Debbie looked at the walker bite on her right lower arm. It was angry and red, but she didn't feel sick or feverish. She swallowed, as she realized she might be able to help people.

After everything she's done, maybe this was her way of making it up to the world. In a true sense, of fucking karma.

"Right, let's all pack a bag and grab our gear," Cain said finally, his grey eyes glancing at his younger brother, sisters and niece. They nodded and went to pack. He walked over to where Debbie was, and sat down on the bed next to her, a contemplative expression on his face.

"You sure that you're alright with this, Debs?" he asked quietly. Debbie nodded as she glanced absently at the dog tags that were on a silver chain around her neck.

"I need to do this, Cain. After everything we've done, it can't be for nothing…can it?" she asked quietly. Cain sighed before nodding and hugged her, before going to pack.

She turned to survey her bedroom, and began packing a few toiletries, a few pair of cotton panties, three bras, t-shirts, a sweater, clean pair of socks, shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, and she packed a book in her waterproof backpack. All of which from what she truly needed.

She sighed quietly as she looked at the photo album that was packed inside her backpack. She couldn't bring herself to read it. She quietly grabbed her weapons.

Her revolver, and her knife. She wondered who these people were that Georgie wanted to take and her siblings across the ruins of the U.S?

* * *

Daryl stood with the others as Maggie spoke to the Hilltop civilians. Gregory was tied up and begging someone to help him. No one lifted a finger, as it was revealed that Gregory had tried to have Maggie assassinated by Earl, who was grieving for the loss of his and Tammy Rose's son, Ken.

Joel nodded at him grimly. Gregory screamed and begged for someone to stop this. Daryl let the horse go, and Michonne screamed at Maggie to stop as Gregory was promptly hanged.

"Maggie, stop!" Michonne begged pleadingly, as some children looked at what was happening. Once he was good and dead, Maggie turned back to the crowd.

"I made this decision...but this is not the beginning of something. I don't want to go through it again. Cut him down," Maggie ordered. Daryl and Joel cut him down, before Beth stabbed him in the head.

That was when they heard knocking at the gates. Daryl saw a look of shock on Maggie, Michonne and Enid's faces, as a middle-aged woman with platinum blonde hair looked at them warmly, with two young men, two women and a young girl around Ellie and Enid's age.

"I was hoping that I'd find you, Maggie. I was wondering if I could talk to you, Michonne, Rick, Ezekiel and Carol about something important," Georgie explained smoothly. Maggie nodded at her as the group were shown into the yard.

Daryl kept his eyes on them and saw Joel glance at the young girl as did Ellie. The woman with light blonde hair offered Ellie a gentle smile.

What the hell did this woman want?

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	2. The Journey

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

 **Face Claims:** Jeremy Renner as Cain Abrams, Sebastian Stan as Ethan Abrams, Imogen Poots as Eve Abrams, Amber Heard as Debbie Abrams.

Endure and Survive

Chapter 2

* * *

Debbie surveyed the Hilltop Colony with interest. Caravans and tents along with houses lined the area on one side, while crops grew on the other. It oddly enough reminded her of home, of when she lived in a trailer park with her brothers, sister and mom when she wasn't getting high on heroin.

She saw a horse trot towards her and smiled. She'd always loved horses, and gently stroked its mane. The horse whinnied and bumped her shoulder.

"You want a sugar cube, huh? Alright, I hope your owner doesn't get pissed with me," she said amused. The horse ate it eagerly as she wondered what its name was.

It was a beautiful chestnut horse. It had a dark brown mane. She stroked him gently and heard someone come over. She saw it was a woman in her late fifties, and she wore a patterned bandana in her blonde hair. She looked at her quietly.

"That was my son, Ken's horse. He loved that horse, got himself bit trying to save the horse. Damnit, I shouldn't blame Maggie for Ken being bit," she said shamefully. Debbie frowned.

"Why did you blame her?"

Tammy looks at her quietly. "I was in grief. She was the one who told me…who else am I to blame? They were all in a group together." Debbie glances at the house, thinking back to what Georgie had told her about the leader.

"I heard that Rick Grimes is the leader of all of these communities. Right?" Tammy slowly nods. "Maybe since he was the person who commissioned the mission you should blame him. He's probably the reason why they had to stop, because he didn't come up with the proper ways to leave." Debbie shrugs and heads inside. "Just a thought."

Tammy doesn't say anything to that. Debbie walks inside, looking around. She notices how most of the people that she saw outside were inside now. In the corner she saw a group of men, watching them all quietly. Her family was staying near the side and she silently walked over, looking over at them.

Her eyes connected with one of the men that was across the way. He had shaggy brown hair and blue eyes that were narrowed. She had a feeling these people weren't so kind sometimes.

She glances back at Georgie, who starts to talk. "Maggie. You have been growing exceptionally. I have seen that you have made use of the book that I gave you."

Maggie nods. "We have been. This place has been surviving well. But I need to know why you are here because you said it was good graces."

Georgie looks at her plainly. "Good graces, yes. We all need to look out for each other, but I didn't tell you everything when we last met." She looks at the group, placing her hands together. "I'm from a community called the Commonwealth. I run it with few other people, and we are fifty thousand strong."

Everyone's eyes widen. Maggie looks at her in shock. "Fifty thousand?"

"Yes. We run people from across different communities, offering trade deals and sanctuary. We have houses, food, a life. We are able to survive in this world due to the trade deals that we have made. Even for the records I took from you ages ago." She looks at Maggie. "But what I need from your community is the largest favour I have ever asked from anyone before, but I believe that there is a part of you that will believe in this cause."

She nods at Debbie to come forward. All eyes were focused completely on her. Debbie stands next to Georgie, who slowly raises Debbie's arm to the rest of the group. Within a second, she pulls up her sleeve.

Guns almost came out, but Georgie held up a hand. "Stop." They all look at her like she was crazy. "She was bit nearly a week ago." Everyone looked shocked.

"That's bullshit," the shaggy-haired man stated. "All bites turn within a day, you're lying."

Georgie looks at Debbie, who shakes her head. "I was on a run with someone and they left me. I got bit and went into the forest but by the time I got back to the zone, I didn't feel anything. They chained me to a bed for two days, and nothing. I'm immune."

No one spoke. It looked like they were all trying to comprehend what she just said. Georgie turns to the leaders, offering peace.

"We are not here to cause drama. We are only here to ask you one thing. We understand that what you were doing before was what you do. Sometimes it is necessary when there is a threat, but we need your help." She turns to Rick. "There are far too many people in the Commonwealth. All of them have a situation they need to fulfil, or the system falls. Because we helped you all that time ago, we are asking one thing, we need you to escort her."

"To where?" Rick asks, his arms crossed.

"There is this group called the Fireflies with doctors and scientists. They are always constantly trying to find the cure to this. To be the shining light, hence the name of them. They have areas all over the United States, and we need some people from your group to escort her and her family there. We can't willingly let her go alone. That's far too much of a risk for someone who is so precious to society."

"What if it's all for nothing?" says another man. "What if she ain't?"

"And you're willing to let that go?" The man was silent. "Please. We all need to do this. We need to make sure that she is safe and that she will reach where she has to go. For the greater good." She looks at Maggie. "Think of what we have done to help you. If you help us, this could save all of humanity."

Maggie looks at her quietly, as if trying to figure out exactly what to do. Slowly, the young woman opens her mouth. "Where would they take her and how far?"

"They'd take her to Salt Lake City, where there is a hospital. It's run by the Fireflies and a medical team that were members of WHO, FEDRA and the CDC," Georgie explained calmly, not in the least bit offended by the questions. She figured that they more than anyone was entitled to be weary and suspicious.

"Can we discuss it with our fellow leaders?" Rick requested civilly. Georgie nodded. She didn't protest when she and the others were guided to another side of the house.

* * *

Rick couldn't help it. He felt hope that if they sent people to escort this girl and her siblings, then it would stop the walkers and cure every one of the virus. Maybe Daryl and the rest of them. He wanted to leave the Sanctuary in the first place. This could be his chance for the stubborn man.

Not to mention the supplies. This could keep them going for at least three years, maybe even more. He looked at the other leaders. Cyndie seemed doubtful while Carol was suspicious. Maggie was distrusting. Ezekiel looked hopeful and Michonne was smiling.

"Maybe we should do it, Rick. This could save Judith and Hershel from the things we've had to do," Michonne said finally, deciding to speak and give her opinion.

"I agree. We could bring back civilization by doing this. We could send Daryl, Beth, Joel and Ellie with them. They would know the land better than anyone, they've travelled all around," Ezekiel agreed, backing up Michonne. Maybe by doing this, things would finally go back to how they were.

"Hold on. You want me to send two of our four best hunters, our best medic next to Siddiq and Enid, and Ellie - who is only fourteen - across the goddamn U.S.A?!" Maggie asked, outraged that Michonne and Ezekiel were even thinking about it.

"Everyone who thinks we should send Daryl, Joel, Beth, and Ellie with the group, raise your hand?" Rick asked firmly. He, Ezekiel, Michonne, and an apologetic Anne raised their hands. "Anyone who is against them going with the group, raise your hand?" he asked calmly. Maggie, Carol and Cyndie raised their hands, but it was three against four. "Alright then. Daryl, Joel, Beth and Ellie will be told they're going with them and get their backpacks ready," Rick decided. Maggie glared at him angrily.

"I swear to god, Rick, if something happens to them, then you are going to regret going against me, Cyndie and Tommy on this!" she said angrily. She stormed out of the room, with Cyndie closely following her.

* * *

Daryl couldn't believe what he was hearing. Rick, Michonne, Anne and Ezekiel had voted to have him, Joel, Ellie and Beth go with the siblings across the U.S. to get to Salt Lake City. Now he was furiously packing his stuff into his backpack. Tommy raged and ranted, with Maria and Joel trying to calm him down. Ellie had gone to pack with Beth, but looked upset.

That girl, she wasn't infected. Somehow, she hadn't turned into a walker by some stroke of damn fucking luck. He finished packing his backpack, when Rick and Michonne entered the tent. Not a second passed without intervention.

Tommy punched him, hard across the jaw. Rick staggered the floor in a heap. Tommy might be the calmest of the Dixon siblings, but like his brothers, he had the infamous Dixon temper.

"Who the fuck made you God and give out orders?! You're sending my two damn brothers, my niece and my wife's fucking best friend across the ages with a group of siblings, just to ease your grief! It's not enough you've taken Merle, but you're sending my damn family away!" Tommy shouted angrily, punching him again.

As much as Daryl and Joel, and to an extent Beth and Ellie, appreciated Tommy sticking up for them, none of them wanted him thrown out of the Hilltop for daring to question Rick's wise choices.

"It's to save everyone, Tommy! To get rid of this disease and cure all of us. I'd do it for Judith! For the future!" Rock snapped defiantly. Tommy looked at him in disgust.

"Like keeping Negan alive? And insisting we grow crops at the Sanctuary when it's nothing but a dead place? Yeah, and see how that's going for ya and Michonne," Tommy said bitterly.

Rick glares at him as he stands, but no one says a word. Tommy shakes his head and leaves the tent. Maria throws him a glare before going after him to calm her husband. The older man turns to where Daryl was, but he was silent.

"You have to understand why we are doing this, Daryl," he says to him. Daryl shakes his head before walking towards him.

"Rick. I don't give a shit why ya are doing this. I don't care. The fact here is that we're needed her to make whatever ya want grow. To keep shit in line. Maggie is right. You're sending out some of her best people for a girl we don't even fuckin' know all the way across the country like some dumbass. I just hope for your fucking sake this does work so they don't have even more reason to kill you."

He moves to leave, before suddenly coming up with some more words.

"Another thing. This ain't what Carl would have wanted." At that, Rick turned to him and glared. "I know you don't want anyone to be talking about, but this new beginning shit was for us, not for the rest of the world. For us to restart our lives. This, letting your people transfer someone else we don't even know cross country, that shit ain't right. It never will be. Carl would never agree with this."

He leaves after that, grabbing his bag. Maggie looks at the two of them before leaving, annoyed. She didn't want to say a word. She knew that these two were just doing what they thought best but had no intention of letting anyone else have their say.

She just had a bad feeling about this mission. And she prayed they would be okay.

* * *

Beth watched as Ellie packed her bag. The young girl had seen so much at a young age, but she knew that she was questioning what might happen when they were out there. They had been safe for a time at Hilltop but now had to travel across country to try and find somewhere they didn't even know was still existing.

How long would it take for them to even make it that far? They were on the total opposite end...

"Hi."

The two of them look up and see one of the girls from before. She was younger than the two women who were with them previously, maybe a little older than Ellie. Her hair was tucked into a bun and she was twiddling her thumbs. "Hey," Beth states.

"I know that this isn't what you wanted, but my family is really grateful for it," she says to them. "We didn't think Debbie was going to be okay and she's sort of our leader in our family…we don't know what we do without her. I'm sort of the social one out of all of them." She holds her hand out to them. "I'm Zoe."

Ellie looks at Beth, who nods at her. Ellie sticks out her hand to her. "I'm Ellie. How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Sweet, I'm fourteen." Beth was right, she wasn't that much older.

She squeezes the young girl's shoulder. "I'm Beth Greene. I'm sure you met Maggie before. She's my sister." She stands up. "You're the social one?"

Zoe rubs the back of her neck. "Well, social in terms of getting to know people. My mom is protective of me, but she likes to talk. My uncles, Ethan and Cain, like to hunt a lot so they try to stay quiet." Beth glances over to where they were, and the men were quietly talking. "Debbie is partially deaf, so she likes to stay to herself."

Beth's brow raises. "Partially deaf? How is she alive?"

"Oh. When she was younger she was really into music. She was a kindergarten teacher before the world went to shit but she loved to sing to the kids. She always said one of the few things that got her through life was the vibrations of the songs. Because she only has hearing in one ear, it's highly sensitive, so she's able to hear things really well." She looks over at Debbie, who had just emerged from the house. "She didn't deserve to be bit but I guess maybe it'll be good? We don't know if this is right or not…we didn't want to drag people into this."

Beth looks at Zoe before squeezing her shoulder. The young girl looked up. "Don't worry, Zoe. We're not mad at you."

Zoe looks at her quietly before nodding. Ellie stands. "Either way, we're going to be leaving tomorrow. We should probably get some shuteye."

Beth nods before bidding Zoe goodnight. The girl leaves and runs back to her family, who rush her into the house. The young girl sighs, looking at them quietly.

What adventure was this going to be for them?

* * *

After bidding a goodbye to Georgie, Debbie looked at the directions she had given her late at night. It would take them a long time to reach where they were going. A really long time. She felt bad for the group that Georgie was making go across the country. They had a life too.

As the sun rose, she hadn't gotten a lick of sleep, just staring down at the cut that was on her wrist. Just as licks of light appeared over the edge of the horizon, she heard footsteps outside. She quietly peeks around from where she had chilled for the night to see the shaggy haired man from the night before.

He came out on the porch, sticking a cigarette in his mouth. A moment later, he blew out a puff of smoke.

"Hi."

The man jumps a bit, turning to where she was. She had the map in front of her. "Jesus," he mutters. "Fucking creep."

She tilts her head. "I can't help it if I was just sitting here."

"Shouldn't be here in the first place."

Debbie sighs before placing the map down. She knew she would encounter this the moment they showed up. "Okay, look." She walks over to him, folding the map up into her pocket. "I'm sorry that your leader voted on you going. I'm sorry that we had to come here in the first place. If it was my choice, I never would have forced anyone to take me across the country to some place I didn't even know existed. Only the higher ups of this country do. I wouldn't even wanna drag my family along with me because I don't want them to get hurt either. But I didn't have a choice. And I know you didn't either. So, the best we can do is just embrace our non-choice-iness and just let it go and get this done."

He looks down at her with narrowed eyes, and in that moment, she realized they were a dark blue. Wow. She had never seen someone who looked like him with blue eyes. How weird.

"Non-choice-iness?" he states back. She rolls her eyes and looks away.

"Shut it. I didn't sleep." She looks back at the ground. "My family will look out for yours just like you'll look out for mine. Quicker we get this done, the better. Right?" He nods. "Good. Glad we're on the same page."

He looks back at her. "The hells your name?"

She glances back at him. "Debbie." He grunts in reply. She raises an eyebrow. "Can I have yours?"

He glances at her. "Daryl," he replies after a bit.

She nods. "Look at us, first name basis."

He snorts before shaking his head. Before he could speak, they could see the rest of their group waking up. Debbie places her hands on her hips before biting her lip.

It was time to go.

* * *

It was a tearful goodbye from the Hilltop when they were finally ready to start the journey. They'd said goodbye to Georgie, who wished them luck. She had given them bottles of water with some supplies that would keep them going, and they'd said goodbye to everyone.

Daryl hugged Tommy and Maria tightly. His younger brother looked bitter and glared resentfully at Rick and Michonne. He then let Joel and Ellie say goodbye to them, before turning to Maggie, Jesus and Aaron, who had Gracie in his arm, seeing as his left arm had been amputated.

"You look after yourself, Daryl. And look out for Beth?" Maggie asked quietly, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back before cuddling Gracie and Judith, who had run over crying quietly.

He hugged the little girl tightly, and she clung to him before he had to let go. He watched as the little girl clung onto Beth and Ellie, sniffling.

Shit, he really didn't want to leave this community to go across the damn states, just for a cure. He sighed and nodded at Tommy, before walking to where Carol was and hugged her.

After everyone said goodbye, they began walking through the gates and started walking down the road. He shook his head as they walked away from the Hilltop Colony. Here they go.

* * *

Debbie walked silently down the road next to the rest of the group, as it started raining heavily. Thunder was rumbling in the distance, when they heard groans and growls. The abandoned city of Washington was just up ahead.

"Uh...what the hell was that?" Beth asked wearily, not liking the sound of where those groans and growls were coming from. Ethan grimaced and sighed.

"Eve, you hear that?" He asked grimly. Eve nodded and glanced at the abandoned city near them.

"Yeah, but it sounded far away though. Zoe, stay close to me and Debbie, just in case," she said quietly, tying her blonde hair into a ponytail. Zoe nodded and stayed close to her mother.

"Shit," Debbie muttered grimly. Knowing their luck, a herd was probably roaming around somewhere. She wondered where those walkers that had talked had wandered off too?

Or had it been her imagination about hearing the walkers talking? Christ, was her mind playing tricks on her? Maybe the bite wouldn't kill her but would make her go insane. That seemed logical.

She glanced at the bite on her arm again. It was starting to scab up and would probably scar. Nothing new there. She'd probably cover it up with a tattoo somehow.

"So, where are you all from?" Beth asked curiously. She was trying to break the tension between the two groups. Ethan regarded her wearily.

"We're all originally from New York, Brooklyn but then we moved to Atlanta. Where are you all from?" Ethan asked curiously.

"Georgia too, but country side. Atlanta was a fun place to go," Beth states. Debbie noticed an empty store, breaking away from the group for a second to search it out.

Once inside, she found some bandages but most of the supplies were gone or mouldy. She grimaced at the sight of the burned, dead bodies, and found an evacuation notice.

Frowning, she picked it up and saw it was dated July 17, 2010, and was ordering all civilians in the city to evacuate to a safe zone, before they napalmed the city.

 _'WARNING_

 _THE AREA IMMEDIATELY OUTSIDE THE WASHINGTON QUARANTINE ZONE WILL BE SUBJECTED TO SATURATION BOMBING IN THE NEXT 48 HOURS TO ELIMINATE ANY THREAT OF INFECTED_

 _All residents of this area have until 48 hours from this notice's posting to evacuate the Virginia city limits. No one will be allowed into the Safe Zone, we are not accepting new residents at this time._

 _THERE WILL BE NO FURTHER WARNINGS. FOR YOUR OWN SAFETY. YOU MUST CLEAR THE AREA'_

"Christ, talk about playing god here," Debbie muttered grimly when she saw someone watching her. She frowned as the man looked at her.

Who the hell was this guy?

She blinked after one moment, and then suddenly he was gone. Debbie shakes her head, rubbing her temples. Yup, she was definitely going insane.

She walks back over the group, placing what she found in her backpack. "I heard you guys were from the backwoods? From where?" She glances over at Daryl, who was as quiet as a rock now. Guess he was only talkative when he had a cigarette in his mouth.

But who was she to judge? She used to stick needles in her arm for fun. Smoking was heavenly compared to that.

"Deep Georgia," the older brother said. "Travelled up when stuff happened down there. Found the place near D.C.."

Debbie nods. "We didn't live in Atlanta for a long time. We used to live in a trailer park for a bit but once we were able to get out, we did." She rubs the side of her arm in memory. "Bit of a bad time to think about but nothing compares to this."

Eve looks up quietly. "Hey, we're gonna have some issues getting around this." Debbie looks up and bites her lip. There were two giant buildings leaning against each other, one looking like it was going to collapse. And in the middle, there was a giant crater from the bomb. They'd have to go around to get past this.

"Whoa," Ellie states, coming over. "What the hell happened to this place?"

"They bombed the shit out of it," Debbie states. "The moment the rest of the world went to shit, so did Washington. Didn't take long for them to try and cleanse the city too." Eve looks through the rubble and spots an opening to the building from the side.

She nods at the rest of the group and they follow her, gently climbing up into the building. Once they were inside, Cain turned to look at them.

"This building seems close to the edge of collapsing, and I'm almost positive that there are going to be some creepers lingering around this area. So, we have to make sure we stay quiet and try to get through this place as quick as possible. I'm almost positive there is some form of an exit if we head to the top and then jump from one of the windows leaning against the building."

"You want us to jump?" Joel asks shocked.

"What else can we do? Every other area is blocked." He nods to the area around them. "C'mon. We can definitely get some leeway with this. Let's look around for stuff."

They climb into the decrepit, old building and start to look around. Going from room to room, they open cabinets and drawers, finding little things here and there that would help them. The rain was pouring outside now. It was better that were inside for a bit. When rain came down it was harder to see the things you had to kill.

Joel heads over to the one of the doors and tries to open it but has no success. He nods at Daryl. "Come help me," he states. Daryl nods and comes back to him, the two of them pushing on the door. It bursts open after a few, something falling off the edge of it. Before either could say anything, there was a loud yell.

"LOOK OUT!"

Daryl turns just in time to see something with fungus all over its eyes run right at him, knocking him to the ground. Its mouth was flinging, trying to get a bite. Daryl tried to grab for his knife but couldn't reach. A second later two gunshots went into the creature's head, killing it.

He pushes it off him in disgust before looking up at the person who killed it. Debbie nods at him. She helps him up as Ellie stares at the thing in shock.

"What the heck was that?"

Joel looks at the siblings in question. Ethan sighs. "Clicker."

"The hell is a clicker?" Daryl asks wearily, checking himself for any bites or scratches that he might have had.

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	3. The Ruins

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. Daryl finds himself along with Beth, Joel and Ellie escorting a hardened and cynical young woman who might be the cure for the outbreak. Co – Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Daryl/OC, Beth/OC, Joel/OC, and eventual Maggie/OC.

 **Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favourited and following this story. It means a lot to me, and WalkingPotterGirl14 :)**

 **Special Thanks To: Alva Starr. ForeverLilacLies, and celia azul.**

Endure and Survive

Chapter 3

* * *

"A mutated form of a walker, only it has fungal growths on its head and body. They're rare, but dangerous. Rip you to shreds they do if you're spotted," Cain explained grimly. Daryl glanced at the fungal growths on the clicker's body and nodded.

Christ, what the hell was going on?

"Let's search for supplies and get the hell out of here before any more of these things or walkers show up," Ethan said grimly. Everyone nodded and searched the building.

Debbie found some bandages and some ammo that she put in her in her backpack. Daryl came over silently. She stood up and looked at him wearily.

"Thanks for savin' me earlier from that clicker. I didn't even know those damn things existed," Daryl said quietly as they started following the others to an office.

Debbie's lips twisted into a faint smile. Daryl got the feeling that the woman didn't smile a lot. Then again, who did?

"You're welcome. I get the feeling that you'd be sorely missed if you died, Daryl. Got a whole family back there. Wouldn't let you get bit that quickly," Debbie said quietly. They searched through the office, looking around, when they heard a clicker close by.

"Shit, hide," Eve whispered quickly. They all hid behind a desk. She saw a glass bottle and threw it across the other side of the room. The clicker growled and followed that noise. They quickly made their way over to the scaffolding, while Cain dealt with the clicker by stabbing it in the neck with a shiv.

He searched around and came back with some supplies as they climbed outside, and made their way to the other side of the building. Hopefully, they could get through this without getting killed.

* * *

Daryl followed the others as they saw the bodies of soldiers lying on the ground. He had never touched the cities besides the one time in Atlanta with Rick and co. He had never known it would be this decrepit. He saw a piece of paper on a clipboard, and it had bloodstains on it. Curious, he looked at it and winced as he realized these soldiers must have been overrun by walkers.

 _'M-254e FIELD OPERATIONS LOG_

 _Date of Action: 7/2018_

 _O.I.C: Waters_

 _Area of Operations:_

 _18:08 Arrived Grid 2438A. Negative Contact at LZ. Moving patrol west towards city center._

 _21:00 Negative Contact_

 _22:18 Negative Fucking Contact_

 _23:12 Pvt. Atwater reports visual/sound contact Stage-2 Cordyceps infected near collapsed office building. Moving to investigate._

 _23:40 Multiple infected contacts. Pvts Atwater, Shah, Coolidge KIA_

 _(Scrawled) OVERRUN FELL BACK TO BUILDING INTERIOR-AWAITING EVAC'_

"Looks like these guys died waitin' for backup," Daryl said quietly. Debbie nodded grimly. They continued on and saw more bodies up ahead.

"There's a group of walkers up ahead. How do you wanna do this?" Beth asked quietly, looking at Daryl and Joel. Debbie pulled out her knife.

"Take them out quietly. Don't wanna waste our bullets," Debbie said finally. Everyone nodded, and they started taking them out one by one. Cain shived one in the head and sent it to the ground, clearing a pathway for the rest of them to move.

After all of them were taken out, they managed to make it outside. It had stopped raining. Daryl looked around and noticed the burned out cars and thought of the Hilltop Colony.

Shit, he hoped they were alright and weren't putting up with the Saviors bullshit. He'd tried telling Rick that they weren't gonna change aside from the very few who did, but the man just wouldn't listen.

Sooner or later, things were gonna go wrong. As usual.

* * *

Joel glanced at Eve as she searched through the cars and shops for supplies. He couldn't help but wonder how she and her family had survived this long.

"So, you lived in the Commonwealth Safe Zone since the start?" he asked wearily. He figured it wouldn't hurt to get to know them since they would be with each other for a few months.

"No, we weren't there from the start. We were at a triage clinic, but when that got overrun by walkers, we were on the road for almost a year. Then we joined a group...who weren't exactly friendly. After three years, we left and joined the Commonwealth Safe Zone," she explained quietly, leaving out the part where she and her siblings had done awful things in order to survive and protect Zoe.

Some of the things that they had done gave her nightmares. She thought of her life before this had happened. Her life as a children's nurse, and her heart ached as she thought of the children in this world.

Joel looks at her quietly. "I ain't gonna care what you did." She glances back at him. "I can tell from yer face that ya done some shit. We all have. Ain't nothin' new." Eve smiles a bit and glances over at where Zoe was. She was talking with Ellie about something.

"We've all had to do things to survive." She looks back at him. "She yours?"

"Yeah. Found her at the start." Zoe's brow raises. "Ellie ain't mine biologically. She didn't have no one. Lost her mom and grew up in a military base. When the world went to shit she lost her friend and had to run. Been keeping her alive since then." Zoe smiles a bit.

"That's really good of you. Not a lot of people in this world are willing to do so much for someone that's not related to them. And by the looks of it, you taught her well." She chuckles as she sees Zoe pull out her knife. Ellie does the same. "The two of them seem to be getting along well."

"Ellie gets along with everyone," Joel states, shaking his head. "Things kids get excited about these days."

"I know. When I was younger, I got excited about the newest movie coming to the theatre. Now it's about who's knife is sharper and if you found stale cookies in a store." Eve shakes her head. "Strange world now. Dangerous one."

Joel nods as he helps her move one of the doors that had collapsed to search through another storefront. "Just shit we gotta deal with now."

Eve nods, handing him one of her knives. "Help me open up this room. Might find more supplies we could use." Joel nods and steps next to her.

* * *

As Debbie picked up some books from some of the cars, she noticed the blonde from before searching some as well. Beth was her name. Suited her. She looked like a Beth. As she moves over she sees the top of her head come out and Debbie notices there was a long, angry pink scare on the top of her neck that went into her hairline.

"Whoa," she mutters. Beth looks up in surprise. "Sorry, just looking at your scar. Where did you get that?"

"Oh. I was shot in the head a long time ago." Debbie's brow raises. Beth chuckles at her expression. "Yeah. I don't know how I survived either. Just a stroke of luck, I suppose. Got a cool scar out of it."

Debbie smiles and nods, coming over to help her move the food from the car. "Not a lot of people come to the cities, so there's always so much more stuff packed away. Afraid of the herds and such." Beth nods, placing some of the cans into her bag. "I got some scars too."

"Think we all do."

Debbie nods grimly. Wasn't that the truth now? But she raises a bit of her shirt, revealing a long scar that went from her belly button to below her waist. "That was from me pissing off someone from ages ago. Damn nearly killed me if it wasn't for my sister. She worked with kids in the hospital before but used the knowledge she learned from college to save me. Was not a fun night. Was sick for days."

Beth nods. "I knew someone like that. My daddy…he's gone now, but he got bit on his leg. He had to cut it off. He got sick for a bit too. Lot scarier to get hurt now." The two of them start to head back to where the group was. "What did you do before all this anyway? You look like someone who was around people."

Debbie sighs. "Teacher. I loved teaching. Thinking about it now just makes me sad. Whole damn thing." She looks over at her. "Kids in this world ain't never gonna know how bad a school's lunch room was."

Beth snorts. "Tell me about it."

* * *

Once they all decided to move on, they headed towards an old museum that was open. After taking out some walkers that were roaming the area, they started to open up a garage that would lead into the building. At that moment, a whole bunch of walkers started to gather and then head towards them, with some clickers mixed in. Joel quickly pulls up the garage and they jump inside, dropping the door.

Ellie nods to his foot. "There's something on your shoe."

Joel looks down and finds a detached arm. He shakes it off and sighs. "Let's loot and find somewhere. Sun's getting low, so we might have to chill for a bit."

They nod and look around the museum. Daryl glances at where the brothers were. They were talking about where to go after they reached the edge of the city. "You guys good?" Daryl asks them.

Cain turns to him. "Yeah. Just the, city is fucking destroyed. If we can get through this museum, we're gonna have to go down ally's and shit. Things never lead to good stuff. Whole city was napalmed so can't take normal roads."

Daryl nodded in understanding. They started searching through the museum for any supplies that they could use. He found some blankets and put them into his backpack. He glanced at Cain and Ethan.

"So, where were all of ya when yer sister got bit?" He asked curiously, wondering where they'd been while their sister had been on a supply run and got bitten.

"I was out working on the horses, while Ethan was working on the construction of a house being built. Eve was helping with a birth, and Zoe was farming. None of us knew anything was wrong until it got late, and that Luke and Debbie should be back. So, Eve went to find them and found Debbie sitting outside with a gun in her hand," Cain explained quietly. Daryl was silent.

Debbie had been planning on shooting herself rather than turn into a walker? Damn, he felt his respect for her go up slightly.

"So, who the hell is Luke?" Joel asked wearily. They searched the rooms of the museum but found only blankets and some ammo for all of them. It wasn't much, but it would help.

"Our brother-in-law. He was Eve's husband, Zoe's dad, but he's an asshole. He abandoned Debbie to the walkers, and no one's seen him since. Idiot probably joined the Saviors. They're his type of friends," Ethan said sourly, and stalked off.

Daryl watched him go, his mind going into overdrive at the fact that Ethan had mentioned the Saviors. Did they know them, or had they just heard of them?

* * *

Debbie had been searching the rooms for supplies, finding a few things including ammo, when she saw walkers in the distance. Quickly, she hid from view.

"Where are they?" One of the walkers asked. Debbie froze in disbelief. This was the same walker that had spoken when she and Luke had been swarmed by the herd in the town, outside the hospital.

What the hell?

 _'Don't freak out, Debbie. You've gotta warn the others, and get the hell away from this place as soon as possible,'_ she told herself mentally. She began backing away from the window and quickly left the room. In an instant, she found the others.

"Hey, we've gotta get out of this museum. You'll probably think I'm crazy, but I just saw a group of walkers talking to each other outside the west side of the building. They were saying 'where are they,'" she said urgently, praying to god they got a move on.

Everyone stared at her incredulously. Daryl regarded her with an unreadable expression, before gesturing for her to show him where she'd seen them. Thank God he was giving her a chance. She showed him. Sure enough, the walkers were still watching the museum. They ducked from their view. Daryl counted six of them. He looked at Debbie.

"Ya seen them before?" He whispered quietly. Debbie nodded and felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. God, she felt like she was in a horror film.

"Not them, exactly. But when that herd swarmed me, I heard walkers asking where are they. I thought I was seeing and hearing things, but it turns out I wasn't," she whispered wearily, feeling fear for the first time since leaving the Commonwealth.

"We gotta go, now. They'll find us if we ain't careful," Daryl said grimly. Debbie nodded. She followed after him, and they re-joined the others.

"What's going on, Daryl?" Beth asked quietly.

"Just like she said. Walkers talking." Beth's brow furrows. "I know it sounds insane but it's probably people or some shit. Either way, we don't trust them. We move now." He nods at Joel. "You can find a way outta here, right? Quick?"

Joel nods. "Let's go." The rest of the siblings pull out their weapons just in case. Joel quickly moved through torn down roofs and arches to get through the museum.

A few seconds later they come out from the top, not even realizing they had climbed up a floor. Joel helps them onto the roof, and they descend across the platforms to get to the other side.

Daryl nods at him as they leave the museum area, but they still needed to lay low.

"Where should we go?" Debbie asks.

Eve bites her lip. "Capital building is that way." She gestures towards the other direction. "If we go that way we can find a way out of the city to the road."

"What if there's still military around that area?" Zoe asks.

"Well, we'll just have to deal." She turns to Debbie. "Ready?"

She nods, and they head off towards the building. The sun was just starting to rise in the distance.

* * *

Maggie was getting increasingly frustrated by the Saviors delays in getting that ethanol fuel to them. She refused to go anywhere near the Alexandria Safe Zone, seeing as Negan was there. What she wouldn't do to see him suffer and die for the hell he'd put her, Daryl and everyone else through. She didn't trust Rick after he had decided to keep Negan alive, despite everything he had done.

She hoped Beth, Daryl, Joel and Ellie were alright. She picked up Hershel for his morning nap and sighed before leaving the office.

* * *

Beth saw the Capital building up ahead, and they saw that half of the city was partially submerged in water, from the storm. Trees were uprooted and thrown over cars and buildings, while tree roots had grown through some of the storefronts.

"So, what did you do before all of this?" Beth asked curiously. She looked at Ethan, who stabbed a walker through the head with his knife.

"I worked as a motorcycle mechanic, but I did a few jobs around my grandmother's farm, so we could get food on the table. I love horses," he states to her as he picks up some books from one of the stores.

"I love horses too, I have a horse called Nellie, and she lives at Hilltop with the other horses. My nephew, Hershel, loves petting them," Beth said fondly, as they left the building. The two went to join the others as they climbed over a trash bin and saw a dead man with a Firefly symbol on his left jacket sleeve.

Curious, Ethan read the note. Beth moved to stand next to him, so she could read the note too.

 _'ORDERS: Patrol the rendezvous area. Ensure no military presence before moving the girl to the next safehouse_

 _Make sure the girl is well fed and in good health. Her safety is of the utmost importance.'_

"Looks like this guy was waiting to meet us before someone shot him. Probably the military," Ethan said grimly. "Crazy how this news has travelled so fast," he states as they walked to where the others were.

"So, how the hell are we going to reach Salt Lake City?" Zoe asked curiously. Before anyone could answer, they entered the Capitol Building and saw dead bodies of Fireflies on the ground.

Well, shit.

"We'll get a car. Let's just get of here before the military show up and shoot us on sight," Cain said finally. They heard a car outside, and Cain peeked out only to see it was the military.

"Fuck, we gotta go!"

* * *

Daryl and Debbie followed after the others. They hid away from the soldiers and saw the exit down the hallway. There were a few walkers roaming about, and they cautiously moved while trying not to make any noise.

"Didn't know there were still Quarantine Zones around. Thought there were just Safe Zones?" Daryl asked wearily as they hid from two soldiers.

"When this started happening in the early stages, Quarantine Zones were built up in the states all over America. Most of them fell to either walkers, or the civilians rose up and turned on them," Debbie explained quietly, her mind drifting to when she and her family had been on both sides.

Daryl looked at her silently. He knew she had done some bad shit, but then again so had he and his family. The two of them turn their gaze back to the soldiers, before seeing them move to another room. Daryl nods at her and they race off towards the end, trying to go as quickly and quietly as possible. Once they reached the outskirts, they jumped into the subway.

Quietly, the two of them waited for the others. "How long ya been at that place?" Daryl asks her.

She bites her lip. "Not that long. Maybe a year. Before that, we've been on and off with groups. We've done some bad things to survive, but everyone has. The Commonwealth was our escape from all that madness. We found it and made a home. I had never expected this to happen though."

Daryl nods his head. "One of yer brothers mentioned Lucas. That he probably joined the Saviors." Debbie rolls her eyes. "You guys know about them?"

"We did. We didn't do anything because we didn't want to get involved with it. We didn't want to lose any more people than we already had. But they had done stuff to some of our people. Lucas, that fucking asshole that was with Eve, wanted to join them. He abandoned me. Knew he couldn't bring his ass back there without Eve backhanding him. So, he bitched out and left." She looks over at where Eve comes through with the rest of them. "She's doing alright without him though. She had mentioned that she didn't want to stay with him…he wasn't really a good guy."

The rest of them rush into the subway and through the old, decrepit trains as quick as they could. Daryl and Debbie stayed behind them, making sure that no one was following their tracks. They jump into the water that had filled up the subway, with Joel helping Ellie and Zoe across, before descending up the stairs.

Debbie stops, hearing something in the distance. She could feel the vibrations through her feet, echoing into her body. Daryl looks at her confused. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just feel vibrations." His brow furrows. "Right. I'm partially deaf so I hear things partially through vibrations. It's probably the military guys on the opposite ends of the city."

As they descend into the light, Daryl looks at her in shock. "Ya can feel vibrations from a mile away? What about your other ear?"

She looks back at him. "It's highly sensitive. But it's not like I can hear groans from a mile away. The vibrations are the ones I can hear from a far distance. Like gunshots or an animal running. It's just how my mind has always worked. I've used it for hunting."

"You hunt?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Don't we all do now?"

He thinks back to more than half the people back home. "No," he states. Debbie rubs the back of her neck.

"Oh," she chuckles. "Well I do. It's different being partially deaf but I still get the job done." Joel comes out last from the subway, looking around.

"That's mighty impressive," Daryl states. She looks up at him and he nods. A rare smile comes across her face.

"Thanks."

Eve looks at Joel. "Where do we go from here? Maps don't cover this road."

Debbie shifted slightly as she and Cain exchanged a knowing look with each other. Back when they had been on the road, they would smuggle supplies to other groups or safe zones. Some of the people they dealt with, though, weren't exactly friendly.

"Me and Debbie know a guy that we traded with regularly. He lives in Lincoln, and he can help us find a car," Cain offered calmly. Everyone nodded in acceptance.

They started walking again and saw more long abandoned houses being retaken by nature, or just simply abandoned. Debbie glanced at her right lower arm silently and looked at the bite mark. It would be her, wouldn't it? The supposed cure for mankind? She sighed and looked at the ring on a silver chain around her neck. It seemed so long ago that he had asked her to marry him…a part of her still missed him. A lot.

She sighed quietly, and followed after the rest of her group. They had a long way to go if they were heading to Lincoln.

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	4. Bill's Town

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

Endure and Survive

Chapter 4

* * *

Zoe walked alongside Ellie as they talked about life before the dead had risen. Like their favourite comic books, shows, music and movies, not to mention food.

"Mom would take me and Susan to KFC whenever we went to the movies. Susan and me loved it. We'd always sneak the food in," Zoe said fondly Ellie looked at her curiously, wondering who Susan was.

"Who's Susan? Is she your friend?" Ellie asked curiously. She couldn't help but feel friendly towards the older girl. Zoe's expression turned sad.

"Susan was my older twin sister. She died two years ago when we were on the road. My mom, uncles and aunt did some smuggling jobs for safe zones and people. Our dad was supposed to be looking after us, and he wasn't, and that was when the Saviors came to us and found out we were smuggling supplies and were on their territory. Negan sent two of his Saviors to teach us a lesson," Zoe explained quietly. Ellie was horrified.

"Did you know who they were?" she asked finally, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn't hear them. Zoe nodded silently as she looked at her knife.

"They told me to remember their names. They were called Jed and Justin. I'll remember their faces for the rest of my life," she said bitterly. Ellie felt sick.

Holy shit. Those two were part of the bridge construction team. Joel and Daryl constantly had problems with them over the fact that they didn't want them to lead.

"Um, I don't know how to tell you this, but those two guys work on the bridge construction, with three other communities. Not everyone wants them there, Zoe. It's partly the reason why Daryl, Joel, and the rest of them are mad at Rick and Michonne," Ellie said quietly, hoping that Zoe wouldn't be mad at her.

Zoe went stiff. The older girl looked at her hard, before nodding. She bit her lip before speaking.

"We're telling my family. They deserve to know, and especially my mom. She was in a bad way when Susan died…we had to put her down before she turned," she said sadly, anger in her eyes as they went to find the others.

* * *

Debbie sighed quietly as she surveyed the area. They were almost near Bill's town, but she had honestly never been to his house. They always met at different locations because of what he wanted. Bill's paranoia knew no bounds. She decided it was for the best that he didn't know about her being immune. She didn't want him getting killed by someone. Or him trying to kill her because he didn't believe her. A part of her did really believe that would happen with how he reacts just to a floating leaf.

"So, how exactly do ya know this guy?" Daryl asked wearily. He took out a lone emaciated walker, its guts spilling out. It cracked on the pavement with a thud.

"He smuggles stuff to us, and we smuggle it to other groups or clients. Judge me if you want, but I had to make sure I wasn't a liability to my family," Debbie said bluntly, not giving a damn if he was judging her.

"What do ya mean by smuggling? I thought ya had stuff in that place? Did ya and yer family do it as a family?" he asked quietly. Debbie sighed.

"No. Sometimes I'd do it or with Cain. We operate as black-market smugglers, dealing in contraband," she said flatly, leaving out the part where she'd taken de-humanizing jobs over the years to survive in the apocalyptic world.

"Ya sound like my older brother, Joel," Daryl said finally, looking at her thoughtfully and frowned.

Debbie's brow furrows. "What do you mean?"

"Well, before me and my family found Joel and the rest of them, he had been doing the same things in Boston. He had travelled up there to get away from Georgia and then took home there. Did some smuggling to keep his group and Ellie alive." Debbie bites her lip before nodding.

"Well, it's the end of the world. We all gotta do shit like that."

Daryl looks at her and his eyes glance at her wrist. "Might not be if ya really are what they say ya are."

She shrugs. "Maybe. Just gotta hold onto hope, I guess." She looks over at him. "What about you? What did you do at the start?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Why you wanna know?"

She shrugs again. "Daryl, we're going to be near each other for a while. We might as well get to know each other better before we all inevitably get hunted down." She nods at him. "So, talk."

The older man tilts his head a bit. This girl had some mouth. A part of him liked how forward she was. Another part wanted to just roll his eyes. "Been with Rick since nearly the beginning. Ain't had no one else. Sort of been his right-hand man even now."

Debbie raises an eyebrow. "When you guys left it didn't sound like it was on pleasant terms."

Daryl glances at the ground. "Yeah, we ain't right now." He shakes his head before sighing. "Just wish this hadn't gotten so big. What he has, this new world he got…just ain't me." He shakes his head before realizing who he was talking to. "Sorry. Just shit there that we don't like."

"No, I get it." He looks down at her. "Trust me. When I first joined the Commonwealth, I didn't like it either. I was so used to just surviving with my family out in the wild that the idea of being behind a closed gate scared the shit out of me. I thought that someone would come and murder me in my sleep. A part of me still does. I like the quietness of the woods or the scenic areas with no one there. At the Commonwealth, there's just so many people. It's almost overwhelming, to a point." She chuckles, shaking her head. "I don't even stay in there that often. I do one class where I teach kids the basics and then I head out. Don't like being confined for super long. Never did."

His brow furrows. "Class?"

"Oh. I was a kindergarten teacher before all this. I used to teach little kids their ABC's and 123's. Now it's more like the ABC's of killing a walker." Debbie bites her lip. "I also teach some self-defence stuff if they're old enough. No kid should know not knowing how to kill. It's just the world we live in right now no matter who tries to change it."

Daryl nods. On that, he agreed whole-heartedly. He even had the plan in his mind to teach Judith how to hold a knife once she was old enough even if Rick said no. Only if the world did fucking change.

"Teacher," he mumbles, looking at her. "I believe it."

Debbie snickers. "Why? Do I look like one?"

"Nah. Just can see it. Ya got this look in your eyes whenever ya look at Ellie and Zoe. Got a thing for kids. Anyone who's got a thing for kids is either a parent or a teacher."

Debbie raises an eyebrow. "You're maybe too much of an observer."

"Ain't observin' if it's that fuckin' obvious." She laughs.

"Har, har."

* * *

As they walked through the woods, Beth glances around the trees quietly. She hadn't seen trees like this in a while. Maggie was always trying to keep her in limits of the Hilltop just because she was needed at that medic area. Right now, the flowers were bloomed, and fall was around the corner. It was the perfect weather.

Her eyes move to where Ethan was, looking around for a clear pathway. She notices a tattoo on his forearm and tilts her head. "What's that tattoo?" She asks curiously to him.

"Oh, this? I got it before the world went to hell. It's a way to remember my friends in my unit," he said distantly. He pulled up his sleeve on his right forearm to show her a tattoo of a black hawk in flight. It went from his right bicep and its wings spread out on his shoulder. It was pretty cool. She had never expressed interest in a tattoo before but his looked amazing.

"You were in the army?" Beth asked surprised. Ethan nodded. His expression was distant as he remembered his past before the outbreak. God, had it really been that long?

"Yeah. Served two tours in Afghanistan and after that I came back home to work on my grandmother's farm and work with horses. I was training to be a cattle rancher when this went down," he said quietly and looked at her curiously.

Beth tried to picture Ethan wrangling cattle and horses. Somehow, she could see it as she glanced at the dark dark-haired man, who was checking for supplies.

"What about you? What were you doing before the world went to hell in a basket?" Ethan asked finally. He managed to find his pack of cigarettes and smoked one as they walked.

"I was going to medical school. I wanted to be an NICU nurse and help the babies," Beth explained softly, thinking of how it had led to her being a medic for the Hilltop Colony alongside Enid and Siddiq. "Now I just work back home to try and keep them healthy in this world."

Beth saw Ethan give a ghost of a smile. She noticed that his eyes softened when he smiled. She guessed that he didn't smile a lot now.

"My two sisters love kids. Eve's a nurse back at the zone and Debbie was a kindergarten teacher. As for Cain, he's a horse farrier and taught kids how to ride horses back there. Gonna need to learn more now," he said finally, and they kept on walking.

Beth smiled. She'd just seen a softer side to Ethan when he spoke of kids.

* * *

By the time they'd reached Lincoln, it was late afternoon. The gate was locked, as per Bill's paranoia. They went around another way as they took out walkers and some lone clickers.

"Ya've never been here, have you?" Daryl asked wearily, as he glanced at Cain and Debbie. They were looking at the ruins of the town.

"No, I've never been here personally. Never had a need to. Let's look around. But look, Bill's really paranoid about literally anything. He might not warm up to you at all. Just let Cain do the talking," Debbie explained calmly as she put one of her patterned bandanas over her hair.

They kept on walking and saw a wire across an alley, just as a walker tripped over it. Within seconds, it exploded. Debbie stared in shock at the sight, as did everyone else.

"Jesus," Daryl said shocked. They heard a loud banging coming from behind a door. Daryl cautiously opened it. They silently went upstairs as a walker lunged at them in the living room.

Debbie smashed its head in with a pipe and blood stained the carpet. Beth saw a name on the wall saying 'RACHEL' with an arrow.

There was a note on the table. She curiously picked it up and started reading it.

 _'RACHEL,_

 _Soldiers are going door to door forcing people onto the buses. I hear yelling a couple of buildings down - time's running out. I tried calling, waiting, I don't know what to do, but I can't wait anymore. I've thrown most of our stuff into a couple of suitcases. I'll be waiting for you in the quarantine zone. Come find me._

 _I'll see you soon!_

 _-EZRA'_

"You think they ever found each other?" Beth asked hopefully.

"How the hell would I know? But I doubt it, seeing as he left a note for her and she never found it. No, I think Rachel's either dead or roaming around as a walker. Don't think about it. Nothing we can do about it," Debbie said bluntly, not sugar coating her words. She wanted Beth to understand that she couldn't worry about people who were most likely dead.

Beth looked sad but knew deep down Debbie was right. She wondered if Debbie had cared about someone, seeing as she wore an engagement ring on a chain around her neck.

"Did you have someone?" She asked softly. Debbie was silent for a few moments and sighed quietly.

"I had a fiancé before this shit happened. He was a good man and didn't deserve what happened to him," she said finally, and found some alcohol for a Molotov cocktail bomb.

Beth looked at her in silence. She could tell that it hurt Debbie talking about her fiancé. She wondered what had happened to him to cause Debbie to become so cynical.

"I'm sorry if this brings up bad memories," Beth says to her quietly. Debbie shakes her head and sighs.

"No, no it's not your fault. Honestly, I should be over it by now. It's been that long, I've done more things than he ever did while he was alive that are questionable. I just always keep him near me." She places her hand around the chain. "Just nice to think about simpler times, right?"

Beth smiles and nods. "Yeah. I get it. I sometimes think back to my farm."

"Farm?"

"Mhm. My daddy owned one and I lived there all my life. It was always the best. My favourite thing to do was sit out on the porch in the summer and drink iced tea. I had a boyfriend for a bit too before the world went to hell. Name was Jimmy. He was sweet." She shakes her head. "He never could have survived in this world."

Debbie raises an eyebrow. "Why you say that?"

"He was just…too weak." She looks back at her. "It's not like I didn't care for him. I was weak too. But I grew because of the people around me. He never had the chance to. And even when we did still have the farm he would always try to stay inside as long as he could without having to face the world. He wasn't meant to be in this world."

Debbie watches as she heads back to the group and thinks about the girl's words. Maybe she had a point. Maybe he just wasn't meant for this world and this was what she was meant for.

"I know you," she mumbles to herself. "I know you weren't…I miss you, but you don't belong here."

She shakes her head, trying to get herself to sanity again before going back downstairs. The rest of them were waiting.

* * *

As they searched through the houses, Cain spotted a walkie talkie from a drawer that had been sealed shut. He takes it out as Debbie talks to the others. "You guys mentioned the Saviors, right?" They nod. "I really don't understand that. You guys said they were with you now? Working on a better world?" Again, they nod, although grimly this time. "You know that's not going to last, right? They'll turn. They won't stay under your rule forever."

She could see that some of them were thinking about what she said. And she knew she was right.

Before any of them could respond, Cain speaks. "Checking in, is someone there?" All heads turn to where he was and see he was trying to work with the walkie talkie. "Again, is anyone there?"

Static. For a good minute. Until someone replied. "This is Maggie Rhee from Hilltop, who is this?"

Beth's brow raises. She instantly runs over and takes the radio. "Maggie?"

"Beth, is that you? Are you, Joel, Ellie and Daryl alright?" Maggie asked concerned. Beth could hear the worry in her voice as she fired them with questions.

"We're fine. Just arrived in Lincoln to hopefully find a truck that can drive us to Salt Lake City," Beth explained softly. She and the others talked while Debbie went upstairs to check the rest of the house.

"I'm glad you're all alright. Georgie's been trying to help us figure out where the savior bridge workers have gone. Two of them left the bridge construction last night and didn't arrive back at the Sanctuary," Maggie explained grimly, causing everyone to frown.

"Has the fuel turned up yet?" Daryl asked wearily. He'd warned Rick that the Saviours weren't gonna work with the other communities, and now this shit was happening.

"No, not yet. Michonne thinks they were either taken out by walkers or went AWOL. So, I'm heading over there with Kal in a couple of days with food and hopefully we'll figure out what's going on," Maggie said finally. Everyone knew from her tone that she wasn't happy.

"Is Aaron alright?" he asked quietly. Aaron had been forced to have his left arm amputated after a log had crushed his arm. He heard Maggie sigh, but she sounded optimistic.

"He's getting there, but it's taking time. He's a bit bitter about it but he'll be alright. He says to watch your backs," she said softly. Everyone nodded.

"Tell everyone we're alright, Maggie. Give Hershel a hug from me, Daryl, Joel and Ellie," Beth said softly. Daryl and Joel asked about Tommy and Maria.

"Well, let's just say this. Tommy looked like he wanted to beat the crap out of Jed after he started accusing us killing the missing saviours," Maggie said dryly, causing everyone to sigh.

Daryl knew that this would cause problems for them. With the exception of Laura, Alden, Tyler and Kieran, the rest of the saviours didn't want to help the other communities. They worshipped Negan and hated all of them.

* * *

Debbie figured a family of six must have lived here before the outbreak. They held out, before either hunters or saviours had stormed the house and unleashed hell. The wife was slumped on the bed, her skin sallow and hazel eyes glassy. Debbie looked at the body. She grimaced slightly and saw the father's body in the bathroom with his four sons, all of them dumped in the bathtub.

Blood was sprayed behind them on the tiled wall. She dragged the bodies out into the hallway and then checked the bedroom next door. The walls were painted a dark plum colour, and there were the bodies of three young girls. The youngest looked barely fifteen, while the other two appeared to be in their late teens. She sighed and dragged them out before searching for supplies. She always hated seeing young people dead but that's just the world they lived in.

She searched the en suite bathroom and checked the cupboards. She was amazed to see they were stock piled with hygiene products from toothpaste, pads, shampoo and conditioner and a first aid kit.

The condoms were long past their sell by date. Not like any of them needed them. She put it all inside her backpack, and felt the floor vibrate. She frowned, and cautiously followed the vibrations until it led to a room.

Upon opening the door, she could hear the all too familiar groans of at least three walkers in the room. Christ, where the hell had they come from?

She took two of them out, when an arrow hit the third one in the head. She turned around to see it was Daryl. He looked at her quietly as she offered him a cigarette pack.

"Cigarette?" She offered quietly. Daryl nodded in thanks as the two of them smoked in a comfortable silence. It was broken when Daryl looked at her thoughtfully.

"How did ya become deaf?" he asked curiously. Debbie was quiet as she smoked the cigarette. She sighed quietly. It seemed so long ago, a bitter memory.

"When I was eight years old, I caught bacterial meningitis. It caused me to become partially deaf. I spent weeks at the hospital. Thank god I didn't need a hearing aid. My mother whined and complained about the medical bills. She wasn't a maternal woman. My grandmother was the polar opposite," Debbie said dryly, and looked at him.

Daryl took that in silently. He was impressed that Debbie had been able to survive with being partially deaf.

"Know the feelin'...me and my brothers didn't have a great childhood and got the hell away," he said darkly, thinking of his old man and the abuse he put them under.

She looks at him quietly. "What happened with you?"

He raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"We all got stories. What's yours?"

He scoffs before turning away. "I ain't got one." She raises her brow.

"Yeah, sure." She rolls her eyes. "Daryl, someone like you has probably been through the most. Whatever it is, I won't judge. Lord knows my family has seen it all. Now we can either sit here in silence and smoke or we can have a conversation and smoke. Up to you."

Daryl glances over at her. For a moment she thought he had chosen silence, but then he spoke up. "Old man was a drunk."

She nods. "Knew some of those."

"He'd do stuff. Bad stuff when he got drunk. Momma died young. So only got worse." Debbie nods, putting out her cigarette.

"My momma was a junkie." He looks at her in surprise. "Yup. When she wasn't yelling at me to grow up or boozing it up with the neighbour, she'd stick a needle straight up her arm. Happy she died." She glances over at him. "Funny how the world works, right?"

His brow furrows. "What you mean?"

"I mean for people like us. The ones who had to learn how to survive in the normal world. This place is almost easier for us. A new beginning." She glances outside and then at her bite mark. "I hope the rest of the world agrees too."

Daryl looks at her quietly before smudging out his cigarette. Once it was gone, he turns to her. "Hey." She looks up. "Even if some people don't believe ya, it's our job to keep ya safe. You don't gotta worry about nothing."

Debbie manages a quiet smile. "I wished I could believe you, Daryl."

"Well believe it. Last thing I want is that creepy woman's eyes on me." He nods towards the others. "Let's head back."

She nods, following after him. Maybe there was more to this group after all.

* * *

Lincoln almost reminded Beth of Woodbury, in a way. It was quiet, secure. She felt really uncomfortable. But she knew that it was only for the sake of protections for this Bill guy.

Ethan looks over at her as they walk. "You good? Seem nervous."

She shakes her head. "No, this place just reminds me of somewhere else that caused our group issues. That's all," she says grimly.

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	5. In Another Life

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. Daryl finds himself along with Beth, Joel and Ellie escorting a hardened and cynical young woman who might be the cure for the outbreak. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Daryl/OC, Beth/OC, Joel/OC, and eventual Maggie/OC.

 **Special Thanks to** **BleedingHeartsoftheWorldUnite** **, celia azul, Dixon-Vixen13, and Entwined love and to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited this story. We truly appreciate it.**

Endure and Survive

Chapter 5

* * *

"Wanna talk about it?" he asked quietly as they saw an abandoned supermarket. They headed inside to search for supplies. Beth nodded, and bit her lip as she thought of the prison.

"We had a fight with this man called the Governor. He was the leader of a town called Woodbury. He wasn't a good man. He destroyed our home, and killed my dad and other people," Beth explained quietly, thinking of her father and the brutal way the Governor had murdered her father.

Her daddy had been a good man. She wished he was here with them right now. She wondered what he would say to Rick about keeping Negan alive and having the Saviors being part of the communities and working with them.

Even though her father was a peaceful man, she knew that her father wouldn't agree with Rick on this. The Saviors weren't going to be under their control. Rick was deluding himself.

"I'm sorry, Beth," Ethan said quietly. She knew from his tone that he was genuinely sorry for her loss. She wondered who he had lost but kept quiet. She nodded in thanks. She found a few packs of chocolate bars that hadn't gone off while Ethan found some bottles of water. They headed back outside and continued to walk with the others.

* * *

Eve searched an abandoned pharmacy. Most of the medicine had gone bad, but she grabbed the available medical supplies, which included burn cream and some bandages. It was better than nothing.

She saw a lone walker in the room and took the supplies, before looking at a faded photograph of her with her two twin daughters, Zoe and Susan. Her heart was still aching over the brutal loss of her daughter. Eve put it away quietly, shaking her head. She left the store and joined the others as they reached an abandoned warehouse. Daryl opened the door, and then was suddenly yanked upside down.

"Daryl!" Joel yelled alarmed. Debbie rushed over and grabbed Daryl as she steadied him. They tried to figure a way to get Daryl free of the ropes, while he kept his head on straight. Jesus, shit had scared the crap out of him.

Zoe who was keeping an eye out for walkers and clickers yelled out to them. She took down two of the walkers while Ellie covered her and shot at the clickers.

Debbie started cutting at the ropes with her butterfly knife, and just barely managed to cut them off. Daryl landed on the floor. He was just getting up when a walker grabbed him. Before he could even think of killing it, the monster was killed by someone new.

"Off your ass and on your feet!" the man shouted quickly. They all followed him as the walkers and two clickers started crawling through the fences.

"Which way do we go, Bill?" Cain asked quickly. He shot at a walker as Bill led them to a diner, and he looked at Debbie who was watching Bill quietly.

What the hell were they gonna do?

* * *

Carol had gone to visit Maggie, Tommy and Maria at the Hilltop Colony, and rode on a horse. She noticed Cyndie was there too, and none of them looked happy. She dismounted the horse and went to speak with them, seeing that they were talking about the Saviors not arriving with the fuel yet for the tractor.

"Still no sign of the fuel? Are Beth, Joel, Ellie and Daryl alright?" she asked concerned. She loved Daryl like a brother and wasn't happy with Rick, Ezekiel and Michonne's decision to send half across the states with a group for false hope.

"They contacted us last night. They're in Lincoln and trying to find a truck that will take them to Salt Lake City," Tommy explained grimly, and sighed. "I hope you don't take this the wrong way, Carol and Maggie, but I'm having doubts about Rick and Michonne keeping Negan alive, and trading with the Saviours. Daryl told us that it's only a matter of time before the place goes to shit and those people aren't good. He'll, even the kids are psycho," he said distrustfully. Carol sighed.

She knew this would happen. That people who were grieving for the loss of loved ones were angry that Negan was alive and the Saviors got help. Past sins remained unavenged and unforgiven, especially Abraham and Glenn's deaths.

Rick was in denial. So was Michonne to a point, thinking they could just forgive, and forget. Tobin and she might have broken up, but they were friends. She knew Joel had been close friends with him. Why should the Saviors get to live? She knew only Laura, Alden, Mark, Amber, and Frankie were the only ones willing to help, unlike the others who didn't give a damn.

"I understand," she says quietly. "Daryl had warned me of it all too. The last thing I want is for us to get hurt but for now we just need to go along. If we rebel without them here, then it's just going to lead to pain."

Tommy sighs before glancing at the gates. "I hope you're right, Carol. I really do."

* * *

He was a sketchy dude.

Daryl got a weird feeling the moment he saw Bill. They weren't kidding when they said there was paranoia going on in this guy. The guy was muttering to himself. After a tense convo and some convincing from Debbie, the man begrudgingly showed them through the house, where they stockpiled on supplies. He showed the new people how to make nail bombs and Molotov cocktails, before bringing them back upstairs.

"Past this gate, it's all new territory for me," Bill said grimly. They all cautiously moved through the garden. Daryl read a boy's journal while the others talked.  
 _  
'June 4_

 _It's official, school is closed indefinitely. I guess this outbreak is good for something. No school = no homework, which is fine by me. Now what do I do with all this free time?_

 _June 5_

 _Mom and Dad were fighting. They were somehow yelling at each other while whispering at the same time. It sounded like Mom wants to leave - go to her sister's. Dad says it's safe here. That the outbreak won't reach our town._

 _June 6_

 _Dad yelled at me for listening to the radio. He says that the news is bullshit. Mom agreed with him while putting on a brave face, but I can tell she's scared. They both look scared._

 _June 7_

 _I think Dad felt bad about yesterday. Gadget was asleep in my bed and Dad didn't say anything about it. He came in, petted him, sighed, and walked out. I've never seen him like this._

 _June 10_

 _Dad was consoling mom last night. Aunt Karen is dead... at least that's what I think I heard. When we sat for breakfast, everyone was all quiet, as if nothing happened. I played along._

 _June 15_

 _Officer Jones stopped by and chatted with Dad. More like whispered with Dad - lots of that going around these days. Afterwards Dad told us that we have to leave town. We have to go to a new home. That the military will protect us. I'm only allowed to bring one bag with me. Mom just sat there._

 _June 16_

 _Where we're going, there are no pets allowed. We drove to the edge of town with Gadget. I took off his collar and let him go. On the drive back, Dad kept talking about how he'll be fine. "He's meant to be free in the wild."_

 _Whatever._

 _June 17_

 _It's time. Dad says we'll be back before we know it..._  
 _I think he's full of it.'_

Daryl looked at the diary and wondered what happened to the kid and his family. Had they managed to survive in the quarantine zone or had they been killed? He couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. He reminded him of Carl with his attitude.

He wondered what Carl would make of Rick forcing the Oceanside, Kingdom, Alexandria and Hilltop working together with the Saviors to build a future. He knew that Carl wouldn't agree with trading with the saviours, too much bad blood. He wanted a new world, a better world where they could coexist…but maybe not like this.

"Ready?" Bill whispered quietly. Everyone nodded. They silently took out the walkers and the lone clickers before reached the abandoned school.

He figured that people must have hid out in the school when things got bad and tried to hold out until help arrived. He took out a walker with his crossbow, and pulled out the arrow, wiping it with a piece of tissues before throwing it on the floor.

"You know as bad as those things are, at least they're predictable. It's the normal people that scare me. You of all people should understand that, Debbie. You too, Eve," Bill said warningly as they reached the part of the school where the truck had crashed into.

Daryl's eyes narrowed, while Ellie looked confused, along with Beth. Joel glanced at Eve silently. What the hell did Bill mean by that?

"What does that mean?" Beth asked finally, glancing around at all of them. Daryl saw Debbie glare at Bill warningly. Something told him that Debbie and her family had a bad encounter with people.

"Nothing. Let's just get to that truck and get the hell out of here, and leave Bill in peace," she said flatly, her voice leaving no room for argument.

* * *

After a tense meeting, Georgie arrived with her second in command, Midge to discuss trading with the Hilltop, after two more saviors had not come to help with building the bridge.

"I was wondering if you would mind taking in the Abrams family, Maggie? They'll help you a lot. They'll be happier here than at Commonwealth. Zoe's friends died when we had a virus sweep through the community," Georgie explained calmly. Maggie looked at Jesus to see if he agreed and he nodded.

"We'll accept. Do they have anything at Commonwealth that they'll need here?" Maggie asked curiously. Her instincts were telling her that Georgie and the Commonwealth could be trusted.

"No, but they have valuable skills that I think your community will need, and in my opinion they're loyal, hardworking people. I would suggest not putting them near the saviors, considering that they are responsible for the murder of Eve's daughter, and threatening to set Debbie on fire," Georgie advised. Maggie's eyes widened.

They'd encountered Negan, and the saviors?

"I'll make sure they aren't anywhere near the saviors. I'll look out for them. Is there anything else?" she asked cautiously. Georgie sighed.

"Keeping Negan alive won't work, and nor will this trade agreement with his group, Maggie and Jesus. I've encountered groups like theirs, and they will turn on you and kill you all," Georgie warned gravely, hoping they heeded her advice.

Maggie nods her head slowly. "Yeah, we've had an idea that something like that would happen, although certain people don't believe us." She takes a glance at Jesus, who shrugs his shoulders. What else could they do? Just sit there and be sad, really.

Georgie bites her lip. "Well, I hope you can figure out something. For the sake of your community." She takes a step back. "The family will be coming here when they come back from Salt Lake City. They are great with crops and farming. You'll definitely get some real use out of them." She goes to leave but stops to turn at them one more time. "Think about it, Maggie. Your future is at stake."

Georgie gives one nod before leaving, the gates closing behind her. Maggie looks over at Jesus, both of them silent.

Something had to be done.

* * *

When they finally got to the inside of the school, the group made their way over to the back where the garage would be. Bill opens the engine while the rest of them guard, but only stops still.

"What's wrong?" Joel asks, shooting a walker.

"It's empty."

"What?!"

"It's fucking empty!"

"Joel," Ellie whimpers, holding the doors back. "We can't hold this much longer." Bill shakes his head before looking at Debbie.

"We gotta fucking move, let's go!" They nod and follow after him. Once they are all through the door, the walkers break through the other and come after them. Bill and Debbie slam the doors shut and lock them, turning back to the others. Daryl looks at the rest of them.

"What do we do if we don't have a car?" He asks them.

Debbie sighs. "There has to be a car somewhere. Some sort of fuel we can use. We just need to find a way out of this school." She takes out her knife, listening to the vibrations around her. "Just be careful. This place is swarming. Not a lot all in once but they're hiding. Keep your ears up."

The group nods and they start to travel through the halls bit by bit. Beth goes off with Ethan while Joel stays with Eve and the girls. Cain, being who he was, goes off with Bill to secure the front posts. Debbie glances around and takes out a few walkers in a classroom, looking in old cabinets.

"Hey, what did Bill mean back there?"

Debbie glances back at him, raising an eyebrow. "Why do you wanna know?"

"Like ya said, dipshit. Might as well get to know each other." She snorts, shaking her head.

"Wow. Even quoting me now. I think you might be in love." She stands up and places her hands on her hips. "It's nothing, Daryl. You don't need to worry about it. Him just saying that brought back some bad memories."

Daryl looks at her quietly. "Lose someone?"

She was silent, staring at the ground. And then, a soft, solemn nod. "Yes. At the very beginning." A deep sigh leaves her. "People fucking suck, Daryl. I've lost everything due to the people of this world. I can't lose anything else."

He nods. "I know how ya feel. Lost a lot of people too." He glances back at her. "It never gets any easier. No matter what the hell happens to ya. I still think about it. What Negan has done to my family. What past people have done. Just fuels my anger at it all."

She rolls her eyes. "Don't even fucking get my started-on Negan," she growls. "I wish I would bury him dead. Forever. For what his goddamn group did to our zone and to my family."

"What did he do?" He asks her quietly; secretly happy she was talking. He needed the answers. The more victims that came forward, the better.

"Negan found out about us smuggling supplies to other groups. They wanted us to work for him. We refused. So, one day he came to this safe zone we were staying at before meeting Georgie, and he sent three of his people to send us a message. Luke, my ex brother-in-law, was supposed to be watching Susan and Zoe, but he wasn't. He was getting drunk. Regina, Jed and a guy called D.J, were holding them hostage when we got back. They killed Susan because she talked back to them," Debbie revealed quietly, her eyes stinging with tears as she thought of her eldest niece's brutal murder.

Daryl felt sick. This was why he knew the Saviors wouldn't change with the exception of Laura and Alden. The rest were loyal to Negan and idolized him.

"How long ago was this?" he asked finally. Debbie looked lost in thought as she tried to remember the day they'd lost not only Susan, her niece, but also two of their remaining friends.

"Two years ago. It was 2016, and I remember who they were exactly. I remember their voices and faces. Eve never really recovered from seeing Susan murdered. Neither did Zoe. It tore us all apart. That was the final nail in the coffin for Luke and Eve's marriage," she said bitterly, feeling nothing but hatred towards the man who had abandoned her to the walkers and caused her niece and friend to be brutally killed.

She missed them. Missed hearing Susan's jokes and missed seeing Renee talking optimistically about the future. The last of her best friends since the outbreak, and she was dead along with her niece.

"After that, we left the area and encountered a group called the Oceanside led by a woman called Natania and her granddaughter Cyndie. We traded with them while they looked after Eve and Cain, who were hurt. We left after three weeks. We didn't want to impose, but they were good people," she said quietly, recalling how the Oceanside had suffered losses at the hands of Negan and the Saviours.

Daryl looked at her silently. He realised how vulnerable she looked. She was just trying to survive, and it was harder for her, seeing as she was partially deaf.

"I'm sorry, Debbie," he said quietly. Debbie nodded in thanks as they searched through more of the classrooms. Dust covered the desks, boards and computers as they searched the rooms and came across a library.

They took out the four walkers roaming around. Debbie found more comics for Zoe. She liked the Marvel comics, and the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and books for herself and the others, while Daryl picked up a few books too and comics for Ellie.

He found a few medical books and shoved them into his backpack, before they went to join the others. They hurried into the gym and barricaded the doors.

"Right, let's get the hell out of here!" Bill said quickly, not having desire to die in this place by walkers. They started climbing up the bleachers to reach outside.

* * *

They hurried outside. Daryl saw a dog running with them. He scooped it up, and realized it was the same dog that had been in the photos at the house where he'd found the boy's diary. Damn coincidence.

They reached the abandoned house. An argument broke out between Bill, Cain and Debbie as Daryl saw a decomposing body hanging from the ceiling. It took them a few moments, but they all turned towards it from his look.

Bill saw it and his angry expression turned to one of pure anguish. He stared at it in shock, while Cain, Ethan, Eve, Debbie and Zoe turned to look at Bill.

"What, you know this guy or something?" Cain asked wearily. Bill said nothing as he stared at the body of the man hanging from the ceiling.

"Frank," he said finally, his voice shaking with grief. He walked towards the body and stared at the walker that growled and hissed.

"Who the hell is Frank?" Ethan asked quietly. Zoe and Ellie wandered off into the garage, but even from there they could hear the adults.

"He was my partner. He's the only idiot I know who would wear a shirt like that," Bill said numbly, cutting the rope and stabbing Frank in the head.

Debbie cringed internally. Damn that must hurt. She watched Bill mourn in how own way for Frank, as they heard an engine revving up in the garage. The group rushes over and saw two trucks in the garage.

Zoe and Ellie were firing it up. Bill took one look at the trucks and saw they had the batteries that had gone missing.

"That's my battery! That fucking asshole!" Bill said angrily. He started working on it, as he glanced at them. "You all might as well search for supplies. Asshole might have taken more of my stuff," he said resentfully, and Daryl put Gadget down and fed him some dog food.

Debbie searched the rooms and found a letter. She frowned and saw it was from Frank and was addressed to Bill. She read it, and inwardly winced.

 _'Well, Bill, I doubt you'd ever find this note cause you were too scared to ever make it to this part of town. But if for some reason you did, I want you to know I hated your guts. I grew tired of this shitty town and your set-in-your-ways attitude. I wanted more from life than this and you could never get that._

 _And that stupid battery you kept moaning about - I got it. But I guess you were right. Trying to leave this town will kill me. Still better than spending another day with you. Good Luck, Frank.'_

"Oh shit, he's not gonna be happy," Debbie said grimly. She bit her lip as she looked at the house. She knew eventually that Bill would have to leave and decided to ask Daryl or his group a question.

"Beth, Joel, and Ellie does Hilltop need an engineer like Bill at the community?" she asked quietly, praying this did not blow up in her face. Despite their differences, she cared about Bill and didn't like seeing him alone.

They looked at her oddly, but it was Joel who spoke up and regarded her curiously. He didn't know why, but she reminded him of Beth and Maggie.

"Yeah, Sanctuary has Eugene, Alexandria has Jeffrey and the Kingdom has Daniel. Hilltop doesn't have an engineer at the moment. Why?" he asked curiously. Debbie decided to speak.

"I think Bill should go to the Hilltop. He'll have people, and no one will judge him or Gadget. He's alone now, and this town is almost picked clean. I consider him a friend, so do you all think he'll be welcome there?" she asked calmly, steadying her nerves.

Joel looks at Daryl, who was quiet. He glances over at Bill. "You gonna try any shit while yer there?"

Bill shakes his head. "Don't fucking need to. And you don't gotta vouch for me. I can hand-"

"Bill, this place is entirely overrun. You need a place to start fresh and put down better traps." Debbie looks over at Daryl. "He would be a fresh start for your group. He would be great. Could he go with the dog?"

Daryl glances back at Bill before slowly nodding. "Alright. You can head there but don't be surprised if they ain't that kind at first."

Bill shakes his head. "I get it. Don't gotta be telling me that." He nods again. "I'm thankful for it."

Beth and Joel nod. "Just don't take advantage of it." Debbie looks at them.

"Alright, enough of the sappy shit. Zoe and Ellie, you two get into the car and start it up. We'll push it out to get some juice running." The two girls nod and jump in, starting up the car. The rest of them pile behind the truck and push, trying to bring the engine to life.

It took a few tries, but eventually they did get the truck to start. The rest of them covered as they killed walkers or clickers that came at them. Once they were able to get a steady drive going, they all jumped into the back and headed off, with the sun starting to set deep in the distance.

* * *

Once they had separated with Bill, Debbie looked down at the directions. Joel had given Bill the way to go from there without crashing into any walkers or clickers that would hurt him, so he would be good. Now, they just needed to get to a decent area.

"Where do you think the next area would be to go?" Joel states, glancing back at Eve. She was looking down at a map quietly, her brow furrowed.

"Well, we need to drive slow if we want to conserve the gas. We'll get to places easier. If we keep taking this route, we should hit some cities along the way that hopefully haven't turn into complete shit holes." She looks over at Ethan. "You think we might hit somewhere good?"

He shrugs. "Depends on where we're going. Hopefully we can find someplace halfway decent."

Zoe looks over at Ellie, who was trudging through a bag. Her brow furrows. "Did you have that much stuff before?"

Ellie looks up almost sheepishly. "I may have taken some stuff from Bill, but it's stuff he like totally doesn't need." Joel rolls his eyes from where he was driving. "Like look, there's this comic that ends right here. To be continued. I hate cliffhangers."

He glances over at Eve who was chuckling. He knew this was probably the biggest joke to them. "What else did you get?" She asks. "Bill always did keep a lot of crap around his place. He would always talk about it when we'd meet up for drops."

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	6. Alone And Forsaken

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

 **So, even though I live in the UK, I've heard what happened in TWD and I'm in complete shock. Like, holy hell.**

Endure and Survive

Chapter 6

* * *

"Well...how about this?" She hands him a cassette tape. "This make you all nostalgic?" He snorts and takes the tape from her hands. Daryl realized it was a Johnny Cash tape.

"This is actually before our time...but it is a good one," he places it into the cassette player. The music starts to play through the car.

Eve shrugs.

"Better than nothing," she says quietly.

"Bet your little buddy will be missing this tonight," Ellie says as she took out a magazine.

All of them hummed in agreement as Ellie and Zoe started reading the magazine, while Eve, Debbie and Beth talked quietly. Daryl, Ethan and Cain listened as they saw Ellie and Zoe frown at the magazine.

"Light on the reading but it's got some interesting photos," Zoe said intrigued as she and Ellie looked at it. They saw the front cover said 'Break In' with a naked man on it. They looked up in alarm.

"Now Ellie and Zoe, that ain't for kids," Joel said gruffly as Ellie flicked through the pages in curiosity. She'd never seen this stuff before, but Zoe had thanks to her dad's secret stash of Playboy and porn magazines.

"Whoa," Ellie said stunned and shocked as she looked at the magazine. They were all greeted with a naked man who had a massive erection. "How...how the hell would he even walk around with that thing?" Ellie asked stunned.

"Ellie, Zoe, c'mon-"

"Hold on, I wanna see what all the fuss is about," she says. Her brow furrows as she looks at another picture. "Why are all of these stuck together?"

"Uh..." Joel stumbles. Ellie chuckles.

"I'm just fucking with you." She opens the window. "Bye-bye, dude!" She throws it out the window and it lands in the road behind them. "You know, this isn't that bad."

Eve chuckles and looks outside at the rain passing by. Maybe it wasn't. Joel kept his eyes focused on the road.

"How about you get some sleep? Gonna be a while before we get there." Ellie scoffs.

"I'm not even tired," she said, before closing her eyes.

* * *

Debbie felt herself wake up a few hours later. The sun had risen, and she looked like the only one awake. She looks at Ethan who had switched places with Joel, so he could rest. "Morning."

He snorts slightly and nods his head. "Nearly there. Wake up the others." She nods and looks around, before waking up Daryl first. He mumbles something in his sleep, but opens his eyes.

"Hey, we're almost there." He nods, straightening himself out. She wakes up Beth and Eve, who wake up Cain. He was resting with his arms crossed and slowly opened his eyes.

Eve shakes Ellie and Zoe's shoulders, who opens their eyes. "We there yet?" Ellie asks sleepily, as Joel woke up.

"Almost. Oh look." They glance outside and see the city coming up. Ethan slows down as they see a traffic jam.

"Oh no, no, no….Well, perfect," he mutters. Beth yawns before she leans up in the seat.

"Now what?" Ethan glances behind him at the road and then in front of him, before turning the wheel.

"Screw it." He goes into an exit and drives through the city slowly. Beth looks out the window as the others do as well. All of a sudden a man comes into the middle of the road with a bloody side.

"Help! Please...help!" Ethan stops the car, and Beth could feel him getting ready to take off. Daryl saw Debbie clicking her revolver, and glare at the man grimly.

"Holy shit...are we going to help him?"

"Put your seatbelts on, girls," he states.

"But what about the guy?" Beth asks quickly.

"Oh he ain't even hurt," he said knowingly, exchanging a grim look of understanding with Cain, Eve and Debbie. Joel looked at them with an expression of understanding. Ethan revved up the truck and drove straight at the man. The man dropped the injured act and pulled out his gun.

"Oh shit! GO! GO!" the man yelled out loudly. Five men jumped out from behind abandoned cars and began firing at them. One man threw a brick at the windshield while the other man shot at them.

They drove on through. Beth saw a bus being driven straight towards them from the side of the street.

"Oh not good!"

The bus drove straight into them and sent them spiralling into a store. They crashed through the doors and then into the wall, causing all the glass to break.

Eve groans into her hands, but she felt someone pull her out of the car.

"What the fuck? Get off me, motherfucker! Joel!" she yells. Joel looks up, but before he could do anything he was pulled out as well. Everyone else was.

Joel felt himself get pushed down near a spike of glass, but before he could get killed he elbowed the man in the stomach, and then turned him around so he sliced his neck on the glass.

He falls to the ground, clutching his neck, spurting out blood, but he didn't pay attention. He had to find the others.

He saw a man slap Ellie and he charged at him, punching his head and then slamming it into the wall. He pushes Ellie away, so she could hide with Zoe, who smashed her hatchet into his skull. He sees Debbie handle her captive well, slicing the hunter in the neck with her knife, causing blood to spray up on the wall.

Cain and Ethan watched each other's backs as Daryl handled himself with Beth, stabbing one of the hunters in the neck with an army knife. He looked for Eve.

A loud bang was heard, causing Joel to look up. He saw Eve had literally blown off the hunter's head, and then took out the next one with the machete, which was now covered in blood.

"Fuckin' piece of-" He grabs her and places her where she could hide. She tries to say something, but he shakes his head.

"Stay here and shoot! Debbie! Beth! Help her!" They nod and run over, covering both her sides to make sure no one snuck past them. Joel helps Ellie over to the women while he, Daryl, Ethan and Cain stuck near the doors.

"Who the fuck are these guys?" Beth yells as she shoots another one twice.

"Explain later! Just shoot!" Eve exclaims, looking at another one.

Daryl shoots another one as the man comes in. Ellie and Zoe look around and grabs anything she could find to throw at them. Give the others at least a little bit of time.

Zoe looks outside, and her eyes widen. More men. "Over the bus!"

* * *

Debbie grabbed one of the men and pointed her revolver at the side of his head, causing the men to freeze at the sight of her holding their group member hostage. She pressed the gun against his head. She wasn't screwing around. The others stared in shock, as the men yelled at her.

"Let him go, you fucking bitch!" one of the men yell, and she shot him in the head, blood and brain matter spraying behind him on the Mercedes. One of the men yelled in anger.

Daryl fired an arrow at him.

Debbie nods before shooting her gun into two men, while Daryl sticks an arrow in the last. Almost at once, the last three men fall the ground. She takes a deep breath and looks around, before turning to him. "Thanks."

He nods at her and the two of them head back to the group. Eve comes out first with the rest of them. "Who the hell were those guys?" Beth asks, looking at them for some sort of explanation.

"Hunters." Everyone turned to Joel, who had been the one to speak.

Daryl's brow furrows. "I don't know how the fuck you know these guys, but you better get to explainin'," he growls.

Joel sighs. "I rolled with them until I found you guys. They steal shit from others and kill you if you don't give a fuck. It's what they do to survive." He looks at Cain and the rest of them. "You obviously had that experience too."

The family was quiet. Ellie looks over at Zoe, who was silent as well. "Even you?"

She shrugs. "I never did the dirty work. Mom always kept me back." Eve sighs before stepping forward.

"It doesn't matter what we were then. What we are now are people trying to get across the damn country to possibly save the world, and here we are just sitting here like ducks. There could be more of those men and women on their way now to kill us. We need to move before we get even more hurt."

Despite the past of the family still lingering in the air, the group nods and heads to look around. Ethan looks over at Beth. "You're bleeding," he says simply, pointing to his forehead. She brings a hand up and pulls it down, seeing the familiar redness.

"Shit. One of them hit me on the head." Ethan stops her and reaches into his bag, pulling out a band aid.

"It's not bad, just enough that we have to cover it up." He gently places it on her cut. "Once we get to a safer position I'll make sure to check it out a little more." Beth smiles quietly and nods.

"Thanks." He nods back, but she noticed he managed a quiet smile as well. The two of them head back towards the team.

* * *

As they searched around the area, Ellie found a chain that lead them into a place with dead bodies all around. Not even wanting to look at it, Debbie heads back while Joel explains to Ellie what the hell happened.

Daryl follows after her upstairs, the two searching through the rooms. After a moment of silence between the two, he finally looks over.

"Can I ask ya something?"

She looks back at him, seeing he was serious. She quietly places what she found in her bag and nods. "Sure."

"I ain't usually like this." He moves over to her. "I usually don't give a shit about anyone's business 'cept my own and my family. But somethin' happened to ya." He points a finger at her. "Yer family in general, but somethin' made ya who ya are now. Ya lost someone. Who was it?"

"Da-"

"We got a right to ask." His response was firm. "Hearin' ya went off and joined a group that tries to trick people into giving them food and then kills them? That ain't right. My family's at risk now. So ya better answer." He moves towards her again. "What happened?"

She stares at him quietly, as if trying to discern what she should say in her mind. A moment later, she spoke. "I lost my fiancé at the beginning of this."

He was quiet.

"His name was Jason. He was sweet, kind, hard-worker. He was everything I could have wanted in a man. But when the world went to shit, we all ran at the same time. We came across a military man…he shot and killed Jason because they thought he was infected from how dirty he was. That's why I had no hope in the beginning. That's why I was with them. I'm not evil. I'm not horrible. I'm just…sick of everything."

Daryl looks at her quietly before talking again. "Didn't know it was a boyfriend."

She shakes her head. "Honestly it doesn't even matter anymore." She runs a hand through her hair. "I always say to myself he wasn't meant for this world. He didn't know how to be cruel. It just wasn't in his genetics." She looks back at him. "But it's like…what could have been, you know? That's why I'm so cynical. It's just…missed opportunities. A world that can never be." She bites her lip. "That's why it's so important we get there. That maybe I can be a cure. I can be help to someone. I can fix this…hopefully. And maybe me living and him dying will finally have some sort of purpose."

"Jason was the first man who didn't treat me different just because I was deaf, or of who my mother was. He loved me for who I was, Daryl…I don't know if I'll love another like I did with him," she said quietly. Daryl looked at her silently.

She was shattered by everything and had become hardened about it. She was broken. He felt bad for her and wanted to say something, but without it coming out the wrong way.

"How old were ya…when this happened?" He asked finally. Debbie looked lost in thought as she thought of the night that her life had been changed forever.

"I was twenty-two years old. You?" She asked quietly. She'd found some bottles of alcohol and they could be used to make Molotov cocktails. Or for maybe a drink when they're safe. God knows she needed one.

"Thirty-two years old. I'm sorry about yer fiancé," Daryl said quietly, genuinely saddened for her. She looked at him silently for a moment before nodding.

"Thanks," she said. The others joined them, and they started heading up the stairs, as they heard Hunters up ahead. Shit, there must be a group of them in the apartment building.

They took them out silently, not wanting to draw any attention. They made their way through the apartment building, before exiting the building. The streets were long abandoned, posters were well-worn and faded, while some of the stores front windows were either broken, cracked or covered in dust.

"If we get to that bridge and we'll be fine," Cain said quietly, pointing towards a bridge in the distance. Joel helped Ellie across as they all heard a a truck, shooting, and people screaming.

"Oh, this place is bad," Debbie said grimly. She might be a cold-hearted bitch but even she didn't stop down to this level of cruelty, and neither did her family. At least not anymore.

The group took out more of the hunters and looked around for any supplies. Daryl found some ammo hidden away as they made their way outside.

The street was completely blown up with incinerated bodies in cars, or on the floor with messages in the wall. Daryl was guessing this Safe Zone had been abandoned for a while.

"Yer fellow hunters do this?" Daryl asked Debbie. They surveyed the checkpoint to the safe zone. It looked like it had been abandoned for at least three years.

"Cute. And no. My money's on the military," Debbie said grimly. She surveyed the destruction of the safe zone and put a dark purple bandanna in her hair. Daryl saw it was Day of the Dead themed. How ironic.

"Why would they kill all of these people?" Beth asked quietly, shocked that the military would do such a thing. But deep down she wasn't surprised.

"Can't let everyone in. You sacrifice the few to save the many," Debbie said bitterly. She had seen this happen when the military got overwhelmed by walkers and left people to fend for themselves.

"Sounds kind of shitty," Ellie said quietly. Debbie nodded grimly as she searched around the area, when she saw Daryl come over with another book.

"Found this in one of the buses," he said quietly. Debbie smiled widely as she realized it was one of the crime/romance books by J.D Robb.

"Thanks, Daryl," she said softly, touched.

* * *

Beth had been looking at the words on the wall. A lot of the civilians in this safe zone had been angry, before the Safe Zone had collapsed. 'GIVE US OUR RATIONS' it said in white graffiti.

Beth winced as she looked around and found a note. She curiously read it and shivered.

 _'We lost Troy Hill to the most ragtag pieces of maggot shit ever to carry a gun. Bastards are cunning, though. They stole one of our mortar launchers. We didn't stand a chance._

 _With this and the Strip District in their pocket, they now control the whole river. Made for a difficult retreat, there's barely half our squad left._

 _I just pray to God that Jeremy and Pam are still alive. They got stranded on the other side of the river.'_

"Good lord, these people were out for blood," she said to herself disturbed. As she joined the others, they saw bodies dressed in military gear all on the floor with bullet wounds to the head.

"So what happened to these people after they rebelled against the military? Are they still around?" Zoe asked cautiously, wondering where these people were.

"They're hunters, kiddo. Or at least some of them," Ethan said grimly, unsurprised.

Ellie looks around quietly, as if trying to assess what was going on. "I don't understand," she says quietly, looking over at Joel. "Why…can they not find anywhere to live?"

Joel sighs before placing a hand on Ellie's shoulder. "Kid, sometimes when you already have something that's gone well for you, you don't want to leave it. That's what's happening here." He looks over at the gates and heads in, before stopping the group. "Shush. I hear some."

He nods at Daryl who started to head out. They all crank forward one by one trying to be as sneaky as possible. All at once, Joel, Daryl and Ethan crept forward and brought them down to the ground, choking them or slitting their throats.

Joel nods at the rest of them and they head into the building that was located next to the outpoint. Everyone starts to take out. Debbie stabs one in the neck and chokes out another. Daryl uses his bow while Cain uses his machete. Zoe, Eve and Ellie stuck close while using a distraction method. Once the guy was under their watch, Eve would through a nail bomb and blow them up.

Eventually they took out all the hunters and brought them down. Ellie whistles. "Survive and endure."

"What?" Joel looks over at her. "Oh, that comic you've been reading."

"It's good," Zoe defends.

Joel chuckles. "I'm sure it is."

Eve smiles before looking at the rest. "Alright. I doubt that's the last of them at all. Keep an eye out but I think for now we should split up and cover more ground. Joel, stay with me and the girls and we can get some work done in this store. Daryl and Debbie, you head out to the some of the others that are nearby and stay clear of the river downtown. It's overflown into the area. Cain, Ethan and Beth, head towards the coffee shop. Once we're all done, we all meet up at the hotel that's about a couple blocks away. We might be able to get a good view of going through the backways there."

The group nods and then splits up, heading into different directions. Eve watches as Zoe runs over to the comic section with Ellie.

For once, she was happy her child was acting like a child.

* * *

As Daryl and Debbie searched through one of the old pharmacies that was on the street, she glanced over at him. "So, I told you what happened to me. Tell me about you."

Daryl shakes his head. "That was a defence thing."

"Dixon." He looks over at her. He had forgotten he told her about his last name. "C'mon."

He was silent, but he knew what she was referring to. She had revealed a vulnerable part to him that he didn't give much choice to. It was only fair he returned the favour.

He sighs and turns back to the shelves. "Not much to talk 'bout. Already told ya my old man was a drunk and mom wasn't around. Beat the shit out of us if we talked back. Joel and Tommy were almost the eldest." He glances at the ground. "Had a brother. Merle was his name. Got killed by one of the people Rick crossed."

She looks at him quietly. "I'm sorry."

Daryl shakes his head. "Ain't nothing. He's been gone for a long time now. Shoulda taken better care." He looks back at her. "I didn't do much before this. Just hunted, went to bars and didn't have shit. Ya did way more with yer fucked up childhood than I ever did."

"I wouldn't say that. It prepared you for this world."

"Yeah, like I fuckin' thought this would happen. Like skinnin' a deer meant something."

She chuckles a bit and sighs. "Well, it's the world we have now." She looks back at him. "What kind of bike do you have?"

His brow raises. "Bike?"

"Yeah, like that Davidson you got. I had a Heritage Classic for a while before the world went to shit." His eyes popped out of his head and his brow went into his hairline.

"Ya were a Harley girl?!"

She chuckles. "Why? Is it hard to believe?"

"Fuck yeah." He places the drugs he found in his bag and turns to her. "Debbie ya look like someone who just stepped out of a prim and proper magazine from ages ago. Blonde hair and blue eyes and all smiles. Aint' a damn bit of you looks bad." She laughs.

"Well there's a lot you don't know about me," she jokes, coming forward. "I used love riding motorcycles. That feeling of riding through the wind. Nothing like it. Was one of the few thrills I got. That and getting some tattoos."

His brow rose every further. "Yer inked?"

She smiles again. "Yup. Wanna see?"

* * *

 _We are overwhelmed by the kind reviews, thank you so much. Enjoy, and review and here is a list of the Abrams family._

 _Abrams Family:_

 _Cain Abrams: The older brother of Ethan, Eve and Debbie Abrams, and the uncle of Susan and Zoe Abrams. Cain is a hardened survivor, who will do anything to protect his family and slowly forms a relationship with Maggie Rhee, and her son Hershel. Cain is deeply vengeful towards Negan and the Saviors, for their part in the brutal murder of his niece, Susan._

 _Ethan Abrams: The second eldest son and younger brother to Cain Abrams, he is the older brother of Eve and Debbie Abrams, and the uncle of Susan and Zoe Abrams. He is the calmer one of his siblings but is deeply haunted by his actions and hopes by accompanying his sister to Salt Lake City, he can make amends. He forms a close relationship with Beth Greene._

 _Eve Abrams: The third child and younger sister of Cain and Ethan, and the older sister of Debbie Abrams. Eve is a doctor and is fiercely protective of her youngest daughter Zoe and is still coming to terms with her eldest daughter, Susan's murder at the hand of Negan and the Saviors. She and her daughter form a close bond with Joel Dixon and Ellie._

 _Debbie Abrams: The fourth child and younger sister of Cain, Ethan and Eve Abrams, and the maternal aunt of Susan and Zoe. Debbie is a partially deaf survivor of the Walker outbreak, taking residence in the Commonwealth Safe Zone. Embittered and hardened by the death of her fiancé Jason Deveraux, Debbie operates as a cold, ruthless survivor, taking numerous de-humanizing jobs over the years to survive in this new post-pandemic world. She has only few moral boundaries left to cross. Unfortunately for her, she is thrust into the middle of the nightmare that the world has become, when she is asked by the leader of the Commonwealth Safe Zone, Georgie, to go across the U.S.A to Salt Lake City with her siblings, niece and Daryl and his two group members. Throughout the story, Debbie slowly develops an unbreakable friendship and romantic bond with Daryl, and close friendships with his group and a desire to once again open up her emotions that she had suppressed for so many years._

 _Jason Deveraux (Chris Hemsworth) - Debbie's fiancé. He is killed in the prologue when a soldier was instructed to open fire on both him and Debbie. His death causes Debbie to become cold, cynical, and brutal over the years._


	7. Escape The City

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

Endure and Survive

Chapter 7

* * *

Daryl nodded in shock. He watched as Debbie pulled up her shirt and showed him a tattoo of a cherry blossom. It was in the centre of her back, and it had cherry blossom with vines on her back.

The detail was intricate and very finely detailed. He looks at her quietly. She nods. "You can touch it."

It probably wasn't the weirdest thing he's done but it was different. He gently stroked it, and she shivered slightly but relaxed. She knew he could see her scars, from her mother's abuse and from the fights she'd been in against other people.

"How old were ya when ya got that tattoo?" he asked finally, pulling back his hand. Debbie smiled. It wasn't one of those faint smiles. It was a genuine smile, and it made her look softer, kinder.

"I was twenty-one when I got it, when I started my training to become a kindergarten teacher. I love kids and toddlers. I loved teaching them," she said softly as she lowered her shirt. Daryl saw a note on one of the shelves, and quietly went over to get it.

He read it with Debbie, as she found some boxes of ibuprofen and looked at the note. Christ, these people weren't screwing around with these soldiers.

 _'Col. Mackenzie_

 _Atlanta QZ_

 _Sir -_

 _Going on 14 months and this little revolution has turned into a blood bath. We've lost too many men, and frankly we're about to lose the entire Zone. If we stay any longer, we will all get lynched._

 _Awaiting your orders._

 _Captain Mastros,'_

"Wonder if they managed to get away?" Daryl wondered quietly. Debbie shook her head as they continued to search the area, keeping an eye out for walkers or any hunters that were in the area.

They ended up going into a supermarket that has a few walkers. They took them out before searching for any supplies. Most of the canned food was going bad, but Debbie had found the storage room and stared in shock.

Holy shit. There were at least ninety-six boxes of Hershey's special dark cocoa. Daryl stared as well, and they split the cans between them. Daryl couldn't help but think of Judith, Ellie, Zoe and the other kids who hadn't had chocolate-based desserts or cakes for a while.

All of the sugar free stuff was gone. Daryl was glad that he had a big enough backpack to carry all of this stuff. Granted, it was sugary stuff, but he was pretty sure the Hilltop, Alexandria, Kingdom, Commonwealth and Sanctuary could use it.

The only reason he was even thinking about the Sanctuary was because of the workers and not the actual saviours. They walked further after taking all of the stuff and continued on. It was a good thing everyone's backpacks were waterproof.

* * *

Beth had gone into an abandoned Abercrombie and Fitch store after she, Ethan and Cain had cleared it of walkers and two recently turned clickers. She found a few clean shirts, for her, Debbie, Eve, Zoe and Ellie.

"So, what do you think will happen when we get Debbie to Dr. Foster, and Marlene?" Beth asked curiously. Cain was silent while Ethan looked thoughtful.

"Probably take blood from her to create a vaccine, but I'm pretty sure that's it. Marlene told Georgie that, along they needed was a blood sample," he said thoughtfully. He found some black socks and put them in his bag.

After getting a few other things, like toiletries, she wondered if Bill and Gadget had managed to reach Hilltop safely? She hoped so. Bill was harmless and needed to be with people.

"So, do you think the saviors will turn on us eventually?" She asked quietly, glancing at Ethan while Cain had gone to check out the nearby gun store.

Ethan sighed. He'd never met Rick or Michonne, but it sounded to him that these two were terribly naive for thinking that the saviors would live happily with the communities.

"I think so. Trust me on that. Those people aren't exactly gonna change, aside from a few. You need to tell your leader that it won't last forever," he warned gravely.

She looks at him quietly before sighing. "I hope that they can recognize that before we need to tell them." She bites her lip. "What is your community like?"

Ethan smiles a bit. "It's nice. It's...weird. It's like we have this mini city in the middle of nowhere while the dead are walking. But we have jobs and homes and food and water. That's what matters. We're safe." He sighs. "I miss being on the farms there."

"You like the farms?"

"Oh yeah. I used to wrangle the horses and crop up some food. I've always been a fan of farming. They make good money at the Commonwealth because we rely on that stuff." He looks over at her. "You're a farm girl, right?"

She chuckles. "Yeah. My daddy owned the farm. I worked the ranch."

"Definitely can see it. Got that whole Southern Belle thing going on." She raises an eyebrow. He shakes his head. "I don't mean it in a bad way. I just mean you got this thing going that's working well for you. You're sweet but know how to handle situations."

She chuckles. "Well thank you."

* * *

"Spider-Man is so better!"

"No, Captain America is the best!"

Eve chuckles as she watches Ellie and Zoe bicker about superheroes. Joel comes over with some food he found and looks to where the two teenagers were.

"Isn't that nice?" she asks Joel. "Even in this world those two are still bickering about superhero's in world full of dead people. Kids are wonderful."

"They are wonderful. Ellie's seen some bad shit out on the road but she's still optimistic and happy. She's loves reading comics when she isn't working on the fields or on patrols," Joel said quietly, pride in his voice. Ellie might not be his biological daughter, but she is by bond. He'd do anything for her and so would the rest of the group.

Eve smiled at his words. The two young teenagers were now talking about the strongest Marvel female heroes were. It was very nice to hear.

"Black Widow's badass, she survived the Red Room, survived being killed and is Bucky Barnes's girlfriend. She's awesome," Ellie proposed. Zoe nodded enthusiastically.

"So true. Jean Grey is badass. Her powers were so cool," Zoe said wistfully.

"Same. The DC characters I like are Aquaman, Mera, and Oliver Queen," Ellie confirmed as they continued to search around the building, with Joel and Eve following them.

Eve couldn't help but smile as she saw her daughter and Ellie act like kids for once. From the corner of her eye, she saw Joel smile too, his lips curving into a smile of amusement.

* * *

"I'd always wanted to go to California, you know?" Debbie said softly. She and Daryl searched through an abandoned homeware store. Daryl looked at her in surprise. She saw his surprised expression and laughed softly, before finding some cat statues, and a Catrina statue.

"Did ya wanna go on a road trip there or something?" he asked curiously. Debbie smiled, and he saw her touch the silver ring on a silver chain softly.

"Me and Jason were planning on going holiday there, and then to New Orleans before our wedding. We loved the wilderness. We used to go hiking or camping. I know I don't look it, but I did love the woods. Still do in a way," Debbie said fondly, and looked at Daryl quietly.

"What about you?" She asked softly. Daryl was silent as he looked at her quietly and spoke.

"Liked going hunting and camping, anythin' to get away from my old man and his fists," Daryl said quietly. Debbie looks at him in understanding as they reach the cooking isle.

He watched as she grabbed different things from cookbooks, piping bags, and what looked like different cookie cutters. She even found some bags of brown sugar, vanilla bean, vanilla paste and a book on how to grow and plant different crops. Maybe she could bake more when she got back to Commonwealth. Hopefully.

"Ya grow up on a farm?" He asked interested. Debbie nodded as they started heading back to the hotel after managing to get whatever they could fit into their backpacks.

"I did for a bit. Then we moved to a trailer park before shit hit the fan," she mumbles, shaking those memories away. "I loved living on a farm. Learning how to make stuff with my own hands was the best."

They met the others at the hotel. Once they were all together, they started searching around as they heard more hunters up ahead. Shit, how many were there of them?

"They found that group in the truck?" a man asked curiously. He was trying to stay warm by a makeshift fire. Daryl nodded at Debbie, and they got ready, as did the others.

"Not yet, they'll flush them out and we'll take their shit as well," he said coldly. Daryl and Debbie quickly took them out within seconds, before taking their ammo and guns.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Cain said quietly, and they made their way up the stairs.

* * *

Maggie had been going over the inventory, still angry that the fuel hadn't come, but Earl was fixing the wagon for the meanwhile. She saw Jesus enter, and he looked weary.

"There's a guy at the gates with a dog. Says that Beth Greene, Ellie, Joel and Daryl Dixon sent him here. He knows where they're going," Jesus explained concerned, as they reached the living room.

Maggie looked at the man with short dark brown hair was sitting with a bottle of water, while the dog was greedily lapping up water from a water bowl. He looked at them wearily as Maggie walked over to him.

"I'm Maggie Greene Rhee, and this is my right-hand man, Jesus. Did Daryl, Joel, Ellie and Beth send you here?" she asked wearily. The man nodded.

"Yeah, said I could help because I was an engineer before this shit happened. They were heading to Pittsburgh," Bill explained quietly, looking wearily at them.

She raises an eyebrow. "An engineer.?"

He nods his head. "Did all kinds of shit. Beth told me you guys needed someone here and I helped them get a car going. Needed a new home." Maggie looks at him quietly.

"What can you do?"

He looks around outside at the window. "Well, first thing I'd do is get you some solar panels or something like that because the whole entire place can't be running on electricity, but if you do have the time, you can start building some watermills and I can hook that up with some generators to get some real power going here."

Maggie raises an eyebrow before looking over at Jesus. He nods, agreeing. "Alright. We can definitely do that," Maggie states, turning back to him. "We can set you up somewhere…but you have to keep us in contact with them."

Bill nods. "Don't worry. I got my ways."

Maggie nods and shows him outside, letting out a deep breath. Maybe having this guy here would help them more than they ever knew they needed. Only time would tell.

* * *

"So, you were actually shot in the head?"

As the group moved through the city trying to get closer to the bridge, everyone tried to keep talking. It was more like a need to be active to stay active thing. If they let their guard down for even a second, then something bad would happen.

So, Debbie just kept asking questions.

Beth nods. "Yeah. I really had no clue how I survived either, but I did. And here I am alive now escorting you. Whoever had fixed me did it really well. I still have the scar." She moves her hair a little and Debbie's brow raises.

"Now that's a battle scar. I had never seen something like that before." Beth smiles and lowers her hair. "We all got some of those today though. Just never something like yours. Damn." She looks back at the road in front of them. "Does that make normal things hard now?"

Beth sighs. "Well, some things. My memory is a bit dodgy. Like, I'll remember things from all the way in the past and stuff I just wrote down I won't. It's a thing that happens with me a lot now. And sometimes it's hard for me to even like comprehend what is going on around me when a lot is happening. Sensory-overload. When that woman did shoot me, it did injure my skull so it's just a bit…I dunno. Different back there."

"At least you can still walk," Debbie says, shrugging her shoulders. "I knew some people back then who had only got into car crashes and could never walk again. Just imagine getting shot and not being able to walk or do anything. Truly you have a miracle." She suddenly stops. "Wait. I feel something."

The group looks at her confused. Debbie focuses her senses to the floor beneath her to familiar vibrations. A moment later, she turns her head back to her family.

"It's a Humvee. They're getting in one of those trucks to find us. We need to find an apartment or some sort of cover soon."

"You can sense vibrations? Zoe said that you could do that after you became deaf," Beth asked impressed. Debbie nodded, and they continued on as they kept on walking.

Zoe and Eve found a store for them to hide in. They quickly hurried in as they head shouting. They looked up from behind the overturned desks to see a couple were being chased by the humvee.

"Keep running!" A voice yelled urgently. Daryl peered up from the desk he was behind with Debbie, and saw a family running down the street from an armoured Humvee.

"Dad, c'mon!" a little girl yelled fearfully, terrified. The man grabbed her hand as the woman clutched a little girl in her arms as they tried to outrun the armoured tank. They ran in front of where they were hiding, when they were shot at. The family collapsed onto the pavement. The youngest little girl was screaming, before one of the men shot her in the neck.

"No...no," the woman said weakly, before being shot in the neck as well, before the men started searching their pockets. Daryl felt hatred running through him, as he watched the two men search them for supplies.

"Jesus," Beth says, flinching away. Ethan glances outside, seeing the two of the hunters come over. Daryl saw that there was a body tied onto the hood of the trunk with a sign on the front of the truck, saying 'RUN. '

"Fuckin' animals," he growls disgusted. These people reminded him of the saviors, Joe's group and the Wolves in a way. All of them killing people…and for what? Just some supplies? Fuckers.

"Busy couple of days, huh?" The man asked who was standing guard. The other man grunted.

"Whatever man," he said as he searched the woman's pockets and bag to find supplies but didn't find shit.

"Damn. No food, old pair of shoes," he said frustrated. The other man sighed. "They ain't got nothin'."

"Let's go," the other man said tiredly. They got into the back of the armoured truck and drove away from where the group was.

"Holy shit," Zoe mumbles shakily. She couldn't believe what she'd just seen and felt sick.

"Is that really who we're dealing with?" Beth asked horrified.

"Why do you think we're trying to get out of the city so badly?" Eve asks her. "This place is full of those guys. We need to go."

They head through a door, Daryl sparing a glance at the dead bodies, before continuing on.

Debbie opens another door and stops short. There was a person lying dead in there, but she saw the familiar medallion on the person's side. A firefly. Clearly these Fireflies weren't doing very well if the citizens of this safe zone had turned on them. She regarded the dead body and saw that he had been tortured before being killed.

She searched him for any supplies and then found a backpack. She cautiously opened it and saw that it had a lot of ammo, two glocks, a bottle of alcohol and a small but useful medical kit. She also spotted a letter. Better than nothing.

 _'We don't need the Fireflies. Sure, they might've started the fight, but we're the ones that have done all the work. It's our blood in the streets. I don't agree with them wanting to take the fight to other cities. They need to earn their independence on their own. And I DEFINITELY won't take orders from some Firefly leader all the way on the other side of the country. Before the fighting ends I suggest we rid ourselves of them. This is our city. Our people. I don't see why we can't rule ourselves.'  
_

"Who exactly are the Fireflies? Daryl asked wearily. He'd never heard of them, but Georgie had told Maggie that they were a group of scientists who were still working on a cure and fighting against any opponents.

"Rebels who are trying to rebuild the government, but aren't having a lot of success, you see. Even Georgie's not fond of them. They tried to stage a coup against her and Midge when she refused to send people to help clear Boston. That place is a dead zone, along with some other places," Debbie explained grimly, as she looked around. "But, they are the only people who can help us right now. We need to trust them."

* * *

"Well at least they finally killed that family. I was sure they made it out of the city," a man was saying as Ethan and Beth hid in a room with the others. They listened intently.

"Shit, Ethan. Hunters," Beth said worried. In an act of comfort, Ethan squeezed her hand tightly and comfortingly.

"We'll be ok, I promise," Ethan said firmly, and Beth believed him. Ethan may have done awful things, but she could see the good inside him along with the bad.

"Now all we need to do is find this fucking six pick-up truck group," the man added as Ethan and the others snuck around.

"There better have been an army truck. How the fuck did they wipe out the entire crew over there?" a man asked confused.

"Let's keep searching. I wanna wrap this up before sundown," the leader ordered harshly.

They all quickly hurried down back stairs as Ellie spoke up then.

"Hearing them talk-at least they're scared of us," she offered as a way to cheer them up.

"Just try not to let your guard down," Joel said warningly.

They come near them and they jump out, wrapping their arms around them. Debbie slits one of the men's throat, while Joel strangles another. Cain uses his machete and slams it into one of the men's heads. Ethan took out one by stabbing him in the throat while Eve stabbed another one in the head.

"C'mon," Joel says gruffly. They keep walking and hide behind one of the trucks, as they hear more of them talking.

"Got word from the east side crew-they ain't seen shit," a hunter says. Another one curses.

"What about Market Street?"

"Yeah, they're driving through that area right now. Who knows, maybe they'll flush them out."

"I pray to god those tourists show their faces," one of them growls.

"Fuck, they gotta show up somewhere-maybe it'll be your lucky day." One of them leaves and the other stays by the window. Ellie nudges Joel, and Zoe listen.

"There's one up on the second floor, Joel," Ellie whispers, Zoe looked a bit uneasy.

"I see him. Stay low."

Ellie and the others nodded as they cautiously walked on and watched as Joel, Daryl and Ethan strangled the three guards. They searched for supplies, and Eve found a note called 'Mob Attack,' dated October the tenth.

 _'I just watched a mob douse Capt. Mastros and the rest of my team in gasoline and burn them alive. The animals were actually celebrating. Some old fucker complained it was a waste of gasoline._

 _There were too many of them. All I could do was slip away. But I'll remember all of their faces. Gonna hunt down each one of them down if I have to._

 _Josh.'_

"Why would they attack the army if they were trying to protect the safe zone?" Ellie asked confused. Eve was silent as she glanced at her then silently.

"The Fireflies started causin' trouble I guess. Then when the soldiers put them down, the civilians got angry," Eve explained as they continued on. Debbie played the tape for all of them.

They listened quietly until the end. Ethan is the first one to speak. "Well that didn't help."

"Right?" Debbie mutters. "But they're still out there. At least that's a sign." Ethan nods as he gets a glance ahead of him, and then nods.

"Let's go." They keep walking silently, until they reach another ally, and hear two more people talking. They stay low when they see a truck.

"Fuck," Debbie mutters.

"It's fine, keep yer head low," Daryl states.

"Six," a hunter says.

"Nope."

"Seven."

"Not even close."

"Ten."

"Keep going."

"I don't know, twenty," the hunter sighs tiredly.

"Try twenty-seven."

"Bullshit. There's no damn way."

"Swear to god."

"You have twenty-seven cans of bacon?" Debbie rolls her eyes at that ridiculous conversation. She breaks out a nail bomb, ready for it to explode, and then throws it into the store. They jump.

"You hear th-" His voice is cut off when the bomb goes off, and two hunters are thrown across the room, dead. The third one lifts his gun, but Daryl was quick. He popped up and shot the man in the head. They run outside just as the truck catches up to them, ducking behind shelves. Once they reach the inside of another store, they see more men.

Daryl and Joel work on them this time, taking them out with their guns, before all of them run behind into an ally. More hunters.

Beth and Ethan take care of them. Beth uses a crowbar, jamming it into the man skull and hitting it nice and hard. Ethan uses his own power to grab the hunter and slam his head against a wall, blood flying from his skull.

They run as the truck shoots at them, and then exit into a building.

"What the hell do they want?" Ellie asks breathlessly. Joel looks around and nods at the stairs.

"Up. Maybe we can sneak through." They nod and head to where an old apartment was, before climbing out onto the fire escape. The truck drives towards them, but luckily, they couldn't be seen.

"Thank god," Eve says quietly.

"Probably gonna find more damn hunters," Cain mutters.

"Probably," Joel admitted. Cain sighed as they continued on, before jumping on a broken bus and climbed down. They heard an engine running, and saw it was that fucking truck again. They quickly hid in an abandoned book store.

"Where the hell are these tourists?" A man growled as they heard the armoured truck driving along the road. Daryl peered round to see where it was.

"Fuck knows, but Reuben wants this settled by sundown," the other man said grimly as they came closer to where they were hiding when Daryl and Joel took them out, as the armoured truck began firing at them.

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	8. Desperate Times

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

Endure and Survive

Chapter 8

* * *

Daryl nodded at him They went into the room cautiously as Ellie, Zoe and Sam started making something to eat. Eve was talking to Beth. Henry was talking to Joel, Cain and Ethan.

She looked around quietly and decided to have a wander around. She checked the rooms nearby and found some black socks and put them in her backpack. Sighing, she found bras and panties, not to mention sports bras. Underwear was becoming hard to find, ironically. She looked at her bite mark silently for a few minutes, before deciding on something. She shoved all of the stuff into her backpack, and found Daryl sitting by the window, smoking a cigarette.

"Mind if I have one?" She asked quietly. He nodded and lit one up for her. She took it gratefully before inhaling the cigarette quietly,

"Didn't think ya were one for smokin' weed," Daryl said amused. One of the men at the Hilltop Colony had known how to grow marijuana and was planning on growing it for medical purposes.

Debbie smiled to herself as they both next to each other on the windowsill, watching the others talk. She didn't speak for a while and puffed out some smoke.

"I grew up with a chain-smoking mother. My grandpa always loved smoking a cigarette. My grandmother couldn't stand the smell. Said she couldn't stand seeing my grandfather coughing up every time," she said finally, and flicked some ash into the empty ashtray.

Daryl looked at her silently and inhaled his own cigarette as he took in her words. She spoke up again. He noticed that she sounded a bit shy, this time.

"I'd like you to do that tattoo for me, Daryl. Maybe when we get away from here you can do it?" She asked shyly. Daryl was quiet, but nodded as he lit up her cigarette.

"When we get outta of here, I'll take ya to a tattoo shop and we'll do it," he said quietly, as they all tried to get some rest before making a break for it in the night.

* * *

Daryl stood next to Debbie as Henry unlocked the door and they cautiously entered the reception area, where two hunters were talking quietly. Daryl took one of them out silently, while Cain dealt with the other one. They left the building and cautiously hid behind some cars as gunshots rang out.

"Walkers!" a man yelled. They saw two walkers stumbling about, and the two hunters took them out. Debbie stabbed one in the head with her knife, while Beth dealt with the other one.

Daryl took out the sniper with his crossbow. Cain hurried over and turned off the generator that powered the lights, and then hurried to the gates. Just as Debbie and him were getting through, the humvee shone the lights on them. They quickly shut the door and barricaded it, when a man shot at them.

"Shit!" Cain said grimly/ His arm stung from the graze. Debbie shot the guy, and they hurried to one of the cargo boxes, and started climbing up. One by one they kept going. Daryl stayed to help each one.

"Alright, yer next, Deb," Daryl said quickly and heaved her up, when the ladder literally broke and fell. Daryl heard one of the hunters yelling angrily. Debbie barely made it onto the truck.

"Move outta of the way! We're gonna ram it!" a man yelled as they started to ram the gates. Joel, Cain, Ethan, Eve, Zoe, and Beth tried to figure a way to get Daryl up.

"We gotta get him up!" Debbie said urgently. Henry looked afraid.

"Ah...I'm sorry!" Henry apologized and hurried off, dragging Sam with him. They watched in anger and disbelief.

"What the fuck, Henry?" Debbie asks angrily. She sees the hunters nearly breaking in, so she jumps down onto the ground next to Daryl. "We stick together," she says to him. Daryl nods a bit and looked quickly at Joel and Beth. They looked ready to jump down but he shook his head firmly. He knew it was too risky for them to jump. He looked at Joel.

"Get outta of here. We'll find a way to get back to all of ya!" He said quickly. Joel nodded reluctantly, and they hurried off. Daryl and Debbie barely managed to get under a garage shutter. They could hear the humvee outside. Debbie swore under her breath.

"How the fuck do we get out of here?" Debbie asks quickly.

"Go around to the other side!" Daryl says quickly. They run to the other side of the building, seeing hunters were inside. They quickly take them out from behind the counter, and then rush to the doors.

Daryl and Debbie break open the chain and they step outside. The bridge was right in front of them.

"Over there!" Debbie yells. Right as they start to run, the Humvee breaks through the gates. The two waste no time in heading towards the gates, looking around and dodging shots. Debbie jumps over a barricade that was block by a bus, looking down.

She curses. The bridge was completely torn in half.

"Fuck," she whispers. Shots ring out at the bus that was blocking them. "We gotta jump."

"No, it's too high," Daryl states.

"What other choice do we have?!"

Daryl looks around as if trying to find a possible choice, but she shakes her head.

"No time left to lose." She suddenly jumps into the water.

"Debbie!" He yells before cursing. "God damn it." He jumps into the rushing waters below, holding his breath before surfacing. Everything was happening so fucking fast. Daryl looks around and finds Debbie holding onto a piece of garbage before it flings off.

Daryl grabs her to protect her but then felt his head hit the end of the bridge. Everything went black.

* * *

He gasps when he opens his eyes again. This time, he was looking up at the sky. It was clear. There was no more rain or water. It felt mushy underneath him. Was it sand?

"Hey." Daryl looks up to see Debbie, looking down at him. There was almost a smile on her cheeks. "You're okay. We made it." Daryl leans up, looking around. The rest of the group comes over, including…

Those fuckers.

"See? I told you. He's good. Everything's okay." It was Henry who made the comment, coming over. Daryl stands up, walking over to him. "You know, Sam's the one that spotted you. You guys had taken quite a bit of water when-" Daryl suddenly knocks him to the ground, aiming his gun at him. "What the fuck's wrong with you?!"

"Henry!" Sam yells.

"Get back!" Daryl snaps at him.

"It's fine- hey, hey...he's pissed but he's not gonna do anything."

"You sure about that?!"

"Stop!"

"Daryl," Debbie states, walking over. Daryl didn't take his eyes off the man.

"He left us to die out there," he growls.

Henry raises a hand. Daryl only steps closer. "No. You had a good chance of making it and you did. But coming back for you meant putting him at risk." He points to Sam. "Stay back. If it was the other way around would you have come for us? I saved you."

Daryl doesn't move. He suddenly feels aa hand on his shoulder. He glances over at Debbie. "He saved me too. We woulda drowned." Daryl looks at her quietly before glancing at his group.

"What about ya?" He asks them. Joel shakes his head.

"We got there too late. Henry was ahead of us."

Daryl looks back at Henry, before shaking his head. He throws the gun on the ground, giving it back to Henry. Sam comes down. "It's fine. I'm okay." He stands up, taking a deep breath. "You know for what it's worth I'm really glad we spotted you." Daryl doesn't say anything. "Now that radio tower is on the other side of this cliff, okay? Gonna be a whole bunch of supplies. You're gonna be really happy you didn't kill me."

Daryl shakes his head before Henry heads off. He greets and hugs the rest of his group, before they go to search the beach. Debbie comes over to him. "You okay?"

"No." He glances over at her, and she looked surprised by his response. He sighs. "I ain't like…just scary shit. Thought the moment we jumped we'd be dead. Hate the fucker for abandoning us but good on him for fucking saving us."

Debbie nodded in understanding as they started searching around. Daryl walked beside her as they looked around for supplies. Beth found some canned tins of chicken that hadn't gone bad and placed them into her backpack.

"Did everyone have a boat?" Ellie asked curiously as she looked around on a washed-up ship. Joel smirked slightly.

"Yeah, I had a sixteen-foot yacht," he said seriously, causing Ellie and Zoe to look up.

"Seriously?" She asked amazed. Joel chuckled.

"No," he said as they reached bodies laid out on the beach. Some of them were kids, but at least two were adults. There was a grave nearby, with a note attached to it.

Daryl picked it up.

 _'Ish killed my son, my sweet baby, along with the others who wanted us to live in a sewer. Now my baby boy is gone, and Ish is acting like it isn't his fault._

 _I'll show him. I'll show them all what it's like to lose a child, to lose the ones you love in front of you.'_

"Damn," Daryl mumbles. "Someone's pissed." Debbie takes the note and reads it before whistling.

"Shit, yeah they were." She hands the note back to him and suddenly looked shy. "Thank you...for saving me again," she states.

He shakes his head. "It ain't nothin'. C'mon."

They grab some more supplies and head up some rocks. Debbie had found another letter from the actual Ish now and was reading it. Daryl looked over her shoulder.

 _'Well... It's looking like I've dodged the chaos and the mayhem long enough. My time out at sea is coming to an end. I'm short on supplies and this boat has seen better days. And you know what... This was bound to happen sooner or later. I guess it's time to go see what's left of mankind._

 _What could possibly go wrong, right?_

 _If you happen to find my skeleton, please don't step on my skull. Thanks._

 _-Ish.'_

"I wonder if he's still alive," she states. Daryl nods over at a dead body.

"Pretty sure he ain't."

Debbie followed his glance and grimaced at seeing the dead bodies. They entered a sewer gate and stepped inside. They saw crates filled up with supplies. Joel opened a door, only for a crate filled up with glass beer bottles to break, the sound echoing. They all looked around the empty sewer in distaste.

"What was that?" Beth asked curiously. She tried not to retch at the smell in the room.

"It's a sound trap. People use them to see if there's any infected or people," Ethan explained quietly as they looked around the room cautiously.

"People lived here?" Sam asked stunned.

"Keyword lived," Zoe mumbles.

"That's disgusting," Beth states, holding her nose. Ethan shrugs.

"Though I would never do this, anyone else will do just about anything to survive. Death is a big fear, and obviously these people feared it." He walks over to a table and picks up a gun.

Debbie smiles. "That's a shorty. We could use that." She throws it to Daryl, who catches it with clumsy hands, not expecting it.

"You're good with a gun. I'm pretty sure you'll like that," Ethan states before they keep moving. Daryl glances down at the gun and then at Debbie.

"I've never ever seen this one," he mumbles.

"It'll blow their heads off. Let's just keep going." They head deeper into the sewers, looking for supplies, until they reached what looked like an old playroom, with a goal and a soccer ball.

Debbie watched as the kids took a break to kick the ball, but they had to move on, so they kept going. When they reached the end of the room, opening a door triggered infected.

"Shit!" Joel yells. They take out their guns and shoot at them, three being walkers and one being a clicker. Daryl uses the shorty, and by the effects of it, he had blood all over his shirt. This gun did work. Zoe sighed and then growled. "God, I fucking hate those things!"

"Well, I guess we know what happened to these people," Beth states quietly.

"Considering there was a clicker, they've must've been gone for a while," Joel explains.

"We keep moving forward. All we can do it hope that there aren't any more of them. Doubtful, I know," Henry states.

Debbie privately agreed as they continued on and saw a few dead bodies that were in the stages of decomposing. It wasn't a pleasant sight. They looked around when she found some medical supplies, and shoved them into her backpack, along with some first aid kits, while Daryl found some ammo.

He then saw a room that looked like a makeshift nursery and looked around. He thought of Judith, and hoped she was alright. Daryl missed her so much. He saw a note next to a cot, that had blood on the pink blankets.

 _'I'm gone for a few months and the world doesn't waste any time going to shit. Everywhere you turn there're infected — and non-infected — trying to kill you. Mankind is back to the food chain, baby! I'm kind of shocked I've survived this long._

 _These sewers seem pretty safe. Unlimited exits/entrances make it easier to defend, and if anyone gets in here, I can lose them in the maze._

 _I might not be tough, but I am quick. Maybe I just need to bide my time down here until it all gets sorted up there. I think I'll become a sewer mole-man for a while._

 _Wish me luck._

 _— Ish.'_

"Wonder what happened to ya, Ish," he mutters, shaking his head. He places the note down as the others walk through the hallway. They see a balcony and smile slightly.

"Think that might be a way out?" Cain asks. Daryl shakes his head.

"It's too high. We can't reach that." He nods at a gate. "We might be able to get through here though." Joel comes over to where he was and starts to pull at the gate. Once it budges open, the door suddenly snaps, and two gates fall to the ground. Cain pulls Daryl and Debbie back as they were separated.

"Shit!" Joel exclaims, coming over. "You guys alright?"

Daryl nods. "We're fine. Thing must have triggered something. Don't think we can lift this up." A sudden clicking noise is heard from behind the gate and Joel's group freezes.

"We don't got time. Find a way out and we'll meet you on the other side. We gotta move." They head out just as the clickers start to come through. Daryl watches as they head off, hearing shooting in the distance.

* * *

Cain sighs and turns to them. "Now what?"

Debbie bites her lip. "Well, we're more than capable of finding somewhere we can go to get out of here. All we have to do is take out walkers and look around." She swings her knife as a walker comes near her from the other side, blood seeping down its skin before it falls to the ground. "So, let's get to it."

The two men nod and start to take out the walkers one by one. It didn't take long. With three people that meant there were three separate targets for the walkers to hit or the clickers to chew down. Just a few gunshots and stab wounds to the head, and they were heading through the rest of the sewer quietly.

Cain heads into what looked like an old laundry area while Debbie broke into a room that was locked. She banged on it one, twice, three times before the door swung up. Instantly, she is met with three walkers.

But these ones made her stop dead in her tracks.

They were children. Three children. One looked like they were maybe ten, the other eight. The last one was no older than five. She could tell from how tall they were. For a moment, she was frozen. Just staring at the dead kids that were in front of her. They approached her slowly, hunting the meal they had so desperately needed.

Debbie quickly shakes her head and stabs one, brings the knife into another, and then drags it back down to the third. Within seconds, they were all dead, falling to the ground. But that didn't stop a few tears from coming down her cheeks.

These poor fucking kids. Who the hell had locked them up in a goddamn room to turn? Who the fuck had no soul to do that?

"What's goin' on?" Daryl comes into the room and looks down at the bodies, before looking back at Debbie. "Ya okay?" He asks her quietly.

She sniffles and nods her head. "I'm fine. Just…I found them in here turned. Who would be so cruel to let kids turn?" She wipes away the tears on her cheeks. "I've done some pretty fucked up shit, but I'd never let that happen. Not over my dead body." She takes a sheet from one of the beds and places it over all three bodies, shaking her head. "Poor souls."

She stands up and walks back to the door. Daryl places a hand on her back, and she notices how he pats it, like he understood what she was going through. She sighs and turns to him.

"I'm sorry. I was a teacher before all this and I've always loved children. I wanted them for a long time. And just seeing someone treat them so bad makes me so angry." She closes the door, placing her knife back in her holster. "A part of me still wants kids."

His brow raises. "Really?"

She sighs. "I know it's stupid. It's not like I'm with anyone. But I see people…rebuilding. There are safe areas. Sometimes people can have a normal life." She looks back at the ground. "But then I think of people like Negan. Or like the fuckers who locked those kids in there. And I don't know if I'm so sure anymore."

Daryl was quiet. "Kids are cute," he states, turning to her. "Rick had one. And she's grown now. But that kid went through enough shit that she should have never had to gone through. It's scary."

"But could that be worth it?" She looks back at him. "For some…it might be. I don't know yet."

Before he could reply, Cain comes over with a full pack.

"Hey, I found a way out of here. We could climb that ladder and climb down, run to the end. But we gotta make it quick. I think I heard some shots fired from the group."

"Fucking things!"

They saw Ethan, Joel, Ellie, Eve, Beth, Zoe and Henry rush out of the part of the corridor they'd been in, as a hoard of walkers swarmed over. Their jaws snapped hungrily as they stumbled after the group, hunger in their eyes.

"Run, there's too many!" Henry yelled alarmed. They all hurried over to the other side and shut the door. They saw Sam crawl through a tunnel and open the door.

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	9. Would Want You To Move On

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

Endure and Survive

Chapter 9

* * *

"What the hell, Sam?" Henry asked angrily.

"Go! No time!" Daryl says quickly. They keep running up some stairs before they had to drop to another floor. Somehow the stairs had fallen apart. Was fucking everything just decomposing?! They run into what looked like an old laundry room but found themselves cornered.

"The hell do we do?" Eve asks fearfully. Henry runs over to a door and tries to open it, but it won't budge.

"Damn things stuck!" He says angrily.

"Gimme a boost! I can get through the window," Ellie says to him.

"Open it from the other side," Henry says quickly.

"Make it quick!" Joel yells as Henry helps Ellie out through the window above.

"C'mon, Sam, you're not staying here," Henry says quickly.

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine. C'mon, go!" he says as he boosts him up and over the window.

"Zoe, you're going too. I'm not letting you stay here, sweetie. C'mon." Eve said firmly. She boosted her over the window. Ellie and Sam helped her climb down, as the sound of walkers and clickers crept closer.

"Get ready!" Daryl yells at them.

Debbie reloads her shotgun and throws two nail bombs. The first couple of infected were killed by those, but then they kept coming and coming. Daryl covered Debbie, while the others all made sure they had specific areas to kill them. Ellie, Zoe and Sam worked on the door diligently.

Eve felt a walker grab her, but she blasts its head, before it could do anything. Joel made sure any walkers were killed before they reached them, and finally, they heard that sound.

"We got it!"

* * *

Debbie practically jumps out of the room while everyone else rushes away. Eve was the last, nearly getting grabbed, but Joel pulls her out. Henry instantly closes the door and places an old vending machine over it. Henry leans against his legs.

"Oh...fresh air!" he says thankfully.

Ellie looks at the building. "Wha-"

"Look at this," Sam states. Debbie looks up.

"Oh, are you fucking kidding me?" She asks. There was a warning that said 'WARNING, DEAD INSIDE! Do Not Enter.'

"Thanks for the warning on the other side, guys," Zoe mutters resentfully.

Everyone glared at the sign, relieved to be out of that shithole. They started walking down the streets which were run down, and some of the houses had collapsed, or had been set on fire, or overgrown by nature. They then heard soft barking and looked up to see two dogs huddled around a man that looked sickly. It took them all a bit before realizing that he was dead.

Jesus.

The two dogs looked at them then, and Daryl held out his hand. They cautiously came over and licked his hand. Sam found a bowl and gave them some water.

"They're comin' with us," Daryl said firmly, making it clear that he wasn't changing his mind. He looked at the two dogs, and they looked like they were young. He realized they were Alaskan Malamute dogs.

"I'm guessing you like dogs?" Debbie chuckles. He nods his head.

"We had one when I was younger...named him Butch, but our old man hated him. I always liked 'em," he states. Her brow furrows, but she decides not to ask any questions. Maybe later.

"They look like they're related to Samoyed dogs, my fiancé Jason, he loved dogs and we had one for six years, before he passed away from old age. Called him Bruno." One of them licks her face, and she smiles. "Like you too, buddy."

She pulls back and scratches behind the dog's ear, before looking back at the group, who was looking at the dogs quietly.

"What should we name them?" She asks them.

"Selene," Ellie states. "For the one with the silver fur." Debbie nods.

"Alright. How about the other?"

"How 'bout Shadow?" Beth suggests. "I always thought that was a good name."

Debbie nods. "Then Shadow and Selene it is," she states as she stands up. The dogs looked like they were waiting for them to command them to do something. Daryl sticks with them. Sam looks over at a truck as Ellie does the same with Zoe.

"What is this?" Ellie asks.

"Oh, this is an ice cream truck," Zoe states.

"An ice cream truck?"

"Yeah, Henry told me about these. They'd sell ice cream out of a truck," Sam says to her and Zoe, who smiles fondly at the memories of having strawberry ice cream. She shakes her head.

"What? No way. Joel?"

"It's true. This would drive around and play really loud, creepy music and kids would come running to buy ice cream," he explains, chucking a bit. It was strange to see a kid not know what an ice cream truck is.

"You're totally fucking with me," Ellie states.

"Um-mmm. He's serious," Eve states, smiling slightly. She remembered the days when she and her siblings, or her and her friends would have ice cream on a late evening or afternoon.

"Man, you lived in a strange time," Ellie chuckles slightly.

"Not really, right now we do though," Eve said amused as they wandered down the street. The houses were falling apart, and the grass had become wild. Trees were growing inside some of the houses, as they headed into one to find some supplies.

Everyone was hungry and wanted something to eat.

* * *

"I'd love to have KFC," Debbie said dreamily as she thought of one of her favourite fast food places.

"What would you have?" Beth asked curiously. Debbie smiled.

"Ten hot wings, bag of chips and two chicken breasts with a Pepsi," she said longingly.

"Yeah, she always had the order down," Eve says from another room. Debbie chuckles.

"I can't help it. I used to love that place. I wish we could have that food."

Daryl glances over at her. "We could find a chicken and all that crap. Probably still make 'em." She rolls her eyes.

"It's fine. Besides, no one can beat KFC's style. It was always so good. My sister used to like McDonalds though." Beth makes a face.

"Yuck. That place is gross."

"It is but nothing beats a Big Mac!" Eve yells. "That shit's tasty!"

Ethan and Cain chuckle slightly and Henry glances at him. "What?"

"Nothin', just...Eve really did love those burgers. It's the one thing she was always known about." Eve snorts and comes out with a bag full of supplies.

"You were an even bigger one." She hands them the bag. "I found some medical stuff as well as some gears for the gun. A scope too. Looks like this place had been some sort of storage house."

"Well it's ours now," Daryl states. "Might as well use it." He heads upstairs and looks through the drawers, finding clothes. "I never thought I'd be sayin' thank God for clothes," he mumbles.

Debbie chuckles as she grabs her own shirt and quickly changes. "Clothes are clothes. We take what we can get." The two dogs were running around each other outside, and they stepped back out. Debbie's stomach growled.

"Hungry?" Beth chuckles. Debbie blushes lightly.

"Well I can't help it. Ya'll were taking about KFC and McDonalds," she mumbles. "I'm hungry as shit. Next squirrel I see I'm eating it."

"Hey, Zoe what was your favourite take away place to eat?" Ellie asked curiously. She and Sam looked at Zoe curiously. The girl smiled and thought fondly of better days.

"I loved New Orleans food. Mom would take me to Acme Oyster House and I'd have chargrilled oysters," Zoe said hungrily, thinking of the food that she liked.

"New Orleans?" Daryl asks quietly. Debbie looks over at him.

"Yeah. We used to take like these annual trips down there with the siblings. It was always a fun place to go."

He shrugs. "Never been."

Her brow raises. "You've never been to New Orleans?"

"Sweetheart, ain't none of us in our family been outside of Georgia before this," Joel states to her. "That was the first city we done saw that wasn't Atlanta." Debbie's brow raises even higher.

"Really?"

Daryl shrugs again. "Dixon's weren't one for leavin' Georgia." Debbie looks over at Eve, who smiles.

"Well, then I know exactly how we'll thank you when this is done. Some good old New Orlean's food. If we can somehow find the fucking spices." She peeks into a truck and then nearly has a heart attack. A walker emerges and almost grabs her if it wasn't for her quick reflexes. "Motherfucker."

Debbie chuckles and comes over. "Whole world is a jump scare now." The group heads towards the bottom of the area, Henry pointing to something in the distance.

"Look, there's that radio tower. Just gotta cross the rest of this."

The group nods and then jumps down from one height of the neighbourhood to the next. As soon as they drop to the ground, shots are suddenly ringing out at them. Joel quickly moves them to behind a truck, where gunshots fired at the vehicle

"Thought you could fucking escape us, huh?!"

"Motherfucker, it's those guys from the city," Debbie snarls. Joel looks over at Daryl.

"You guys stay here. Daryl and I will try and get an angle on them."

"Wait, what?" Debbie turns to him. "Let us help."

"You'll be safer if you stay here. It's better they shoot at us."

"Um, I can protest that," Eve mutters. Cain rolls his eyes before nodding at Joel.

"Just stay safe, okay?"

Joel nods and then nods at Daryl. The two run off in separate directions, both getting shot at, but missing by just an inch. Debbie bites her lip as she watches Daryl dodge behind cars and to the next ones to avoid bullets, before disappearing into the house that was closest to them.

"They're crazy," Eve whispers.

"They're Dixons." Debbie looks over at her. "I think it's in their blood."

* * *

Within minutes, Daryl was the first one to arrive at the house of the shooter. He took out the men that were around, using some Molotov cocktails that Debbie had given him and some arrows from his crossbow when he could get an angle. It didn't take long for him to find the entrance inside.

He ran up the stairs as fast as he could, checking each door. There was nothing until he arrived at the top floor. He kicks open the door and then felt an arm wrap around his neck, trying to strangle him. A knife appeared in his vision. Daryl overpowers him and nudges him in the gut, before grabbing the knife and stabbing it into the shooter.

Joel suddenly appears at the door and sees the dead body. He nods at his brother before rushing over to the rifle. "Goddamnit." There were shots being fired at the group. They rushed over to find better cover. More of them were coming.

Daryl quickly rushes over as the two brothers shot at the hunters who came from the city. Each shot took one down. Then, another one of them came with a goddamn Humvee again and started shooting once more. The man popped out after a second and threw a Molotov cocktail. Daryl waited until he popped out one more time. Once he did, he shot him and the whole entire vehicle was set on fire and crashed into one of the houses.

"Damn." Debbie comes out and shakes her head. "That was intense. Thanks guys."

Daryl watches quietly as the group starts to emerge, talking to each other. Ellie suddenly looks up and yells. "Look out!"

Clickers emerge and suddenly attack Debbie and Sam. Daryl shoots at the one on Debbie while Joel handles Sam. They both get up in shock before running. "Let's go!"

Daryl looks back to where the hunters had come from and cursed. The shooting had brought the infected to them again. "We gotta fucking go."

Joel nods and the two of them head downstairs. The others had broken into the house and secured it. Debbie looks over and smiles. "You two are okay."

"For now. Let's go." He nods at Henry who leads the way. They head out to the balcony of the place and jump down, heading in the direction of the radio tower. They had survived. Somehow.

* * *

"No way."

"Serious. We just rented out two Harleys and drove cross country. Daryl was there too." Henry shook his head.

"Man, I'd give up my arm just to ride one of those around the block." Daryl chuckles and glances at them. Debbie had gone outside to smoke while Zoe, Eve and Sam were in the other room. Cain and Ethan sat across from them.

"I used to ride one of those," Ethan states. Beth raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"Oh yeah. Only damn way to get away from our mother. Bitch was abusive, especially to Debbie. That's why she got a Harley too." Daryl glances to where Debbie was, just relaxing on the balcony with a cigarette in her hands.

Was she really abused that badly?

Daryl knew the signs of abuse. He'd grown up in a household where his old man used his fists, and on more than occasion had used his belt on his four sons. Will Dixon wasn't a good man, and when he'd been drunk, then all of them knew to stay away or hide.

He looked over at where Debbie was sitting at the balcony keeping watch, the flames from the fire making her face glow. She was watching it rain and had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"So, where are you planning on going after tomorrow morning, all of you? Zoe and Ellie said that you were all heading to a college to find the Fireflies?" Henry asked curiously. The group exchanged weary glances.

None of them had told Henry and Sam about Debbie. All of them knew that it was dangerous telling strangers that she was immune to a walker bite.

"Yeah, but we have a community that we live at. It's called the Hilltop Community. It's one of five communities that are the Kingdom, Sanctuary, Hilltop, Oceanside and Alexandria," Beth explained softly. Henry looked thoughtful.

"Is it safe? The reason I'm asking is because we thought the safe zone in Hartford was safe but that went to shit. What's so special about these places?" Henry asked suspiciously. Beth, Ellie and Joel began telling him about the communities while Ellie, Sam and Zoe played Monopoly.

Daryl headed outside towards the balcony where Debbie was, Shadow sitting at her side.

* * *

Debbie looked at the few walkers that were roaming around the fences of the radio tower and took them out with a few arrows. She didn't want to use her gun and attract even more of them to her. She was thinking of what awaited them at the Colorado College. She had been given a tip that there were Fireflies there instead of Salt Lake City.

She wondered what Jason would think of all of this. If he had survived being shot that night by the military. She looked at the engagement ring and swallowed as her mind wandered back to that night that had both been wonderful and had been the worst night of her life.

* * *

 _1st of June 2011 (flashback)_

 _Debbie had been curled up asleep next to Jason, his arms wrapped around her protectively, when they both heard his phone ringing loudly with the song 'Whatever It Takes' by Imagine Dragons._

 _"I'll get it, Deb," Jason said sleepily, running a hand through his light blonde hair. He answered the phone and saw it was Cain who was phoning him._

 _"Jas, you and Debbie need to get the hell out of this gown with us now! This virus has hit our town, and dead people are fucking killing everyone!" Cain said fearfully. Jason felt his stomach drop at his words._

 _"Cain, me and Debbie are leaving now. We'll meet you at the highway!" he said quickly, and saw Debbie was already dressed, and had their bags packed._

 _"Jas, what the hell is going on?" she asked wearily, not liking what she'd heard Jason talking on the phone to Cain about. This felt like a horror movie._

 _They hurried over to where Jason's black truck was. Debbie's car was unfortunately in the garage after the engine failed. They got in, and started driving as Debbie put on the radio, hoping for answers that someone had._

 _As they drove, she saw people frantically packing up their stuff and fleeing, and saw a group of men robbing a gun store. She swallowed as she found a radio station._

 _"This hour the news is grim, we have confirmed reports that Washington, and Los Angeles have fallen to the dead. Repeat, Washington and Los Angeles have fallen to the dead. If you see the dead run, do NOT try to help them. The only thing that will stop them us a shot to the head. Hospitals are filling up with people that the virus is taking; so far there is no cure for the virus. If you are bitten or scratched, you will die. Refugee centres are being set up in all major cities, backed up by the National Guard. We have reports from all over the world that the dead are rising. Please go to the nearest Quarantine Zone or Safe Zone," the woman said, before cutting off._

 _"Looks like all hell is breaking loose. There's Cain, Ethan, Eve, Zoe and Lucas is with them" he said grimly. Debbie grimaced as they saw her siblings in the car in front of them with Eve's husband._

 _They all jump out. "What the hell is going on?"_

 _"Don't matter. I know a way to get us to the zone quicker, so we can be safe." Zoe and Susan were curled against each other._

 _"Mommy, what's going on?!" Zoe yells._

 _Eve shakes her head as they hurry through alleyways. "It's alright, baby, just stay with me." Suddenly, something definitely not human springs forward and tries to kill Cain. He grabs a knife from his belt and stabs it._

 _"Oh my god," Debbie breaths, taking a step back. He shakes his head._

 _"We gotta go!" He pushes them forward as more of those undead things start to follow them. They head through the hills, Jason in front of them, until they were at the very bottom. Suddenly, they were stopped by a man who was in military gear._

 _"STOP!" he yells, stepping forward._

 _Jason steps in front of Debbie. The guy starts to hear orders. "Look, we don't want any trouble. Just need some help." The man looks at Jason's shirt, covered in blood from Cain's kill._

 _"Sir…I don't…alright…" The man suddenly aims his gun and Jason curses. He jumps on top of Debbie as shots rang out. Everything went black for a moment before Debbie looked up._

 _"Please…"_

 _A sudden shot is sent into the man's head. Debbie looks over just as the ammo guy falls to see Ethan with a gun. She looks over again as she hears gasping._

 _There was Jason. On the ground, choking on his own blood._

* * *

Debbie shakes her head and sighs, letting out a slow breath. She didn't know why she still thought of that night. It seemed almost a century ago with how much she thought she aged when the dead started to rise. But there was still a part of her that felt like she was obligated to. Like she had to remember him.

"Hey." Debbie glances up to see Daryl coming out. "Got some food, want any?"

She shakes her head. "Nah, I'm good." Daryl takes a seat next to her as Shadow rests his head on the hunter's lap. The older man chuckles and pats the dog's fur before throwing him a piece of food to eat.

"Ya look like yer deep in thought," he muses, glancing at her. "Everythin' alright?"

She sighs and looks over at him. "Everything is fine. I'm just thinking about what happened to Jason all that time ago." She takes a deep breath and takes a seat. "Ever since his death I've just…I've become so cold. I haven't trusted anyone but my family because everyone else has always hurt us. Even some people in the Commonwealth, to an extent. They aren't evil, but I just don't…feel as safe with them." She brings a hand to the chain that was around her neck. "I almost feel obligated to think about him, you know?"

Daryl nods, glancing at the ground. "This probably ain't my place." She looks up, her brow raised. "I know he was yer fiancé, but he's gone now. Been gone for a while. I used to be like that with my brother Merle. He got killed, told ya that. He was an asshole, but he was my brother and I miss the fuck out of him. He had just come back to the group when someone fuckin' slit his throat. I kept thinking about him every day." He looks back out at the fields. "But truth is, thinking about the dead isn't gonna do shit. It ain't gonna bring them back or make 'em happier. I always heard when someone ya love dies, they just want ya to move on and be happy." He looks at her. "I ain't 'happy,' I guess. But I'm content with the life I got. I still have my family, just like ya do. I still have my group and the people back home, just like ya do. There's a lot to be looking forward to."

Debbie looks at him quietly before a small smile comes across her face. "Thanks, Daryl. I needed that. Doesn't sound like something you'd say."

He shrugs. "Just know what ya gone through. 'Sides, ya might be the cure for the world. Bet Jason would be proud of that." Debbie smiles and nods.

"I'm sure he would." He was silent for a moment before she looked over at him. "What 'bout you? Ever had any romantic partners?"

Daryl snorts before shaking his head. "Naw. I used to just fuck the white trash hoes that would come out of the bars with me. It ain't that I didn't want it…just never found a good girl, ya know?"

She raises an eyebrow. "A good girl?"

He snickers, realizing how it sounded. "Not like a church goer or something like that. I mean like someone I actually liked and felt some sort of fuckin' connection with. Like there are people back at camp I can talk to like family. Hell, one of 'em, her name is Carol. Woman is a little older than me, but she was the best goddamn person to talk to. But ain't ever felt anything." He shrugs. "Don't know. Honestly I'd rather just take care of the kids than worry about another person I'd care about."

She smiles. "So, the big baddie does like kids?"

He shrugs again, only this time she sees a hint of red on his cheeks in the dark. "Someone's gotta take care of 'em in this world."

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	10. The Badlands

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

Endure and Survive

Chapter 10

* * *

Debbie smiles at his embarrassment, but she found it sweet that Daryl cared so much about the kids in his group. She sat next to him in a comfortable silence and looked at the engagement ring on the chain around her neck.

Could she let go of Jason, her first love? Deep down, she knew that Jason would never want her to unhappy. He'd want her to be happy and have someone. It was something to think about, and she appreciated Daryl's advice.

"I love kids. When I was a teenager I used to babysit them, and I used to watch over the younger kids in the trailer park. That's why I became a kindergarten teacher. I loved my students. That's why I found it so hard seeing those kids," she explained quietly. Daryl nodded in understanding.

He understood it all too well. He could still see Sophia coming out of the barn and sighed quietly. He loved Judith in a lot of ways. He saw her as the daughter he might not ever have.

"I get it. Kids back at home, Henry, Gracie and Judith are good kids, along with Rachel. She's a tough kid," he said finally. He stroked Shadow's fur gently as he and Debbie sat in a comfortable silence.

"Zoe had an older twin sister, you know?" She said finally, opening up to him. He looked at her in surprise. She nodded sadly and lit up another cigarette. Eve would be pissed that she was smoking so much, but honestly, she needed a smoke for when she talked about this.

"What happened to her?" Daryl asked quietly. Eve hadn't mentioned anything to any of them about Zoe having an older twin sister. He wondered if Zoe had told Ellie the truth.

Debbie sighed quietly. She hated remembering that awful day when the Saviors led by fucking Negan and Simon had murdered Susan, after Lucas hadn't protected Susan and Zoe.

"We were in the road after finishing a smuggling job to this safe zone called the Kingdom with a guy called Richard. Lucas was supposed to be watching Susan and Zoe, when we got ambushed by the Saviors and got dragged out of our car. Negan threatened us, and Simon poured petrol fuel over me, telling Lucas that if he didn't give him half of our guns then he'd burn me alive. Lucas refused, so they made us watch as Negan bashed in Susan's head with that fucking barbed baseball bat of his. Kept on doing it, and told us to stay away," Debbie said bitterly, remembering Negan's crude jokes about Susan.

Her precious niece hadn't deserved to die like that. It had changed all of them that night. She wiped her eyes and looked at Daryl quietly.

"I'm sorry, Debbie," he said quietly, but she could hear the empathy in his voice. She nodded in thanks. It was starting to get cold. They quietly headed back inside.

She watched as he checked on the others, and she smiled at seeing how Ellie, Sam and Zoe were curled on the three worn, moth eaten blue velvet couches. She pressed a kiss to Zoe's hair, and went to check on the others and they were all crashed out. She looked at Daryl, as it started raining heavily outside.

Daryl offered her a bowl of tomato soup and she accepted it gratefully, as they both ate in a comfortable silence with Shadow and Selene eating their dog food.

She felt comfortable around Daryl. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like she didn't have to keep her guard up around him or his group.

* * *

The early rays of dawn shone through the curtains. Daryl woke up to see Debbie was still asleep with a blanket thrown over her that he'd put over her.

At first, he'd assumed she was a cold, distant woman, but after what she had told him, and how he'd seen her react to the child walkers in the sewers, he'd changed his mind. She was hurting, bitter and afraid of getting close to anyone after seeing her fiancé die in front of her, after he'd died protecting her.

It was something he understood. He'd never loved anyone romantically, but he'd loved Merle. He'd been an asshole, but he'd died trying to protect them.

Daryl wondered what Merle would think of Rick keeping Negan alive, and trying to make the Saviors work together with the communities. Merle would either crack up laughing, or call Rick a dumbass for trying to make them all work together.

"What time is it?" Debbie asked quietly. She was rubbing her face tiredly and sighed quietly. Daryl frowned, and glanced outside. He could hear the birds chirping.

"Early mornin', better make a move on soon," Daryl said quietly. The others woke up and started talking while Debbie made porridge for all of them.

"So, me and Sam are gonna take a truck, take the dogs with us and head to the Hilltop. Do you know where it us?" Henry asked wearily. He wanted Sam to be safe and not constantly living in fear.

Daryl nodded. Joel got a map that he drew directions on and gave it to Henry, who thanked them as they heard growls outside the radio tower. Daryl cautiously went outside and saw a huge herd of walkers was heading towards them. There had to be at least ninety-one walkers, all stumbling in their direction.

"We gotta go now people!" He called out quickly. They all quickly left and hurried to get their backpacks before hurrying out through the back entrance.

They managed to find two trucks that still had working engines. Daryl and Debbie got into one with Shadow, Ethan and Beth. The others got into the red truck, and they started driving away from the herd.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Ethan asked stunned. He'd seen herds of walkers before hit, but this was something else. They all looked they were migrating somewhere.

"Probably from the south, or abandoned towns and cities that are now empty of people and animals," Daryl said grimly, as he followed Joel in the truck in front of them.

After an hour, they pulled up and said goodbye to Henry and Sam who both thanked them for helping them escape Pittsburgh. Daryl hoped they got to Hilltop safely. Hell, maybe they'd settle at Oceanside.

Would be good for Cyndie. Henry was the same age as her and he knew there was a lot of anger between the three communities and the Saviors.

"So, where are we heading to next?" Beth asked curiously. They all looked over the map. Daryl knew Georgie had mentioned a college.

"Georgie mentioned a college, maybe that's where we gotta go next?" Debbie suggested quietly and looked around quietly. Maybe they could stock up on supplies, and hunt.

Daryl looks around. "We could just stay here for a bit." Joel raises an eyebrow. "Not long, just for a day to figure out what route we're taking to get there. Find some food. Know tomato soup is good but we gotta get some meat."

Joel nods. "Yeah, there are a lot of deer in this area."

"I could hunt." Debbie steps forward. "If I come across a walker at least we know it can't hurt me," she jokes.

Eve rolls her eyes. "Har, har. But I'm not letting you go alone."

"I'll go with her," Daryl states, nodding at his brother. "Just get some sort of setup in the car and if the herd comes through just move. We'll head out and find a deer or somethin'." He looks over at Debbie. "Ya know how to hunt?"

"Doesn't everyone now?"

He scoffs and shakes his head, before heading off into the woods. She could almost hear him mumble "I wish," under his breath. She chuckles and nods at her sister before following after him.

* * *

Tensions were running high and Tommy really wanted grab Rick, and shake him by the shoulders to knock sense into him. The Sanctuary wasn't going to work with them. A lot of them were loyal to Negan or just simply wanted to run it by themselves.

He could see how this was gonna go. A fight was gonna happen and someone was either going to get hurt or killed. What he wouldn't do right now to have advice from Joel and Daryl, or hell, Beth and Ellie.

This was going to end badly.

* * *

Daryl followed the deer tracks carefully. Debbie walking silently next to him as they saw a herd of deer grazing the grass. Daryl saw antlers on the grass, from where bucks had rutted against each other, as it was clearly this time of year.

"Careful, can't get too close to them seeing as it's rutting season. They'll gore you if you ain't careful," Daryl whispered quietly. Debbie nodded in understanding as she watched Daryl aim his crossbow at a buck, and it hit the animal in the neck, killing it quickly.

Daryl grabbed the deer and made sure it wasn't contaminated. Debbie saw the antlers all over the floor. She noticed the sun was shining through the heavy, grey clouds and went to help Daryl.

"Well at least there's one good thing about the outbreak. Nature is making things right by animals reclaiming the land," she said wryly, remembering her Nan's words about nature knowing best.

Daryl snorted at her words. Reclaiming was an understatement as it had been five years since the outbreak. Canned food was starting to turn bad, not to mention fuel.

They carried the deer carefully to where the others were sitting by a picnic table they'd found. Daryl pulled out his knife, as he, Joel, Beth and Debbie started gutting it. After finishing that task, Ellie and Zoe came back from their search around the heavily forested area and had found a few tents they could sleep in for tonight, as not all of them could sleep in the car.

Debbie chose to sleep in the tent, insisting that Eve, Zoe, and Beth take the truck but Beth insisted to share a tent with Debbie. Daryl knew that despite her efforts, Debbie was warming up to his brother, Joel and Ellie.

He wondered what Maggie, Rick, Michonne, Enid, Aaron, Carol, Ezekiel, Henry, Judith and Gracie would think of her. He could imagine Rick's imagination, when he found out she and her family joined a group that tricked, killed and robbed people.

Not that he was judging her. Grief made you do things that you wouldn't normally do. He knew that from experience. He sighed quietly.

Beth got out the containers as Cain and Ethan got a fire going. They sat around it, as they put the pieces of deer meat on sticks to slowly roast. He glanced over at where Debbie was. She was sharpening her knife with a rock, while talking to Beth.

* * *

"So, Daryl told me that you and your family lived on farm. What was it like?" Debbie asked curiously, thinking of her grandmother's farm, and the horses.

If she could, she'd happily go back there and take the horses with her to the Commonwealth, or maybe one of the communities. She'd always loved horses since she was little and had learnt to ride one before she could walk.

"Peaceful, even if it was only for a while you know. My dad thought the walkers were sick, so he put them, my mom and brother in the barn and thought there would be a cure. When Rick's best friend, Shane shot one, that broke my father's illusion, and mine too. I'd give anything to find Nelly, Willow and Polyxena, they were part of the family too," Beth said sadly, and Debbie felt for her.

"You never know, you might find them again or they might find you in the most unexpected place," Debbie offered quietly, trying to cheer her up. Beth smiled at her words.

"Did you go camping a lot? With your siblings?" She asked finally. Debbie smiled sadly and nodded. She thought of how when they were kids, Cain and Ethan would take her and Eve camping.

"Yeah, and then I went camping and hiking with my fiancé Jason, he loved the outdoors," she said fondly, thinking of her late fiancé.

Beth smiled at hearing the fondness in Debbie's voice as she spoke of her life before the dead had risen. It was nice to see her smile.

"Me, my brother Shawn and my sister Maggie use to camp out in the fields on our farm. I miss the days when everything was simple. You didn't have to worry about people killing you or stealing your supplies," Beth said quietly. Debbie nodded in silent agreement at her words.

The world had changed, and they had to change too if they wanted to have any hope of surviving. It was what people had to do these days.

* * *

It started raining heavily during the night. Eve could hear thunder clapping in the distance. The noise would rile up the walkers, but hopefully they were far away for the moment and wouldn't run into them.

Sighing, she sat up and watched as the raindrops hit the windshield heavily and thought of the house that she had lived in with Lucas, Susan and Zoe.

She missed that house. Granted they had struggled with the mortgage, but the house had been worth it. She'd give anything to know if it was still standing.

"Ya alright?" Joel asked quietly. She nodded quietly and ran a hand over her face tiredly. She didn't feel tired, and saw that Ellie and Zoe were fast asleep.

"Yeah, just wondering where we gotta head to next, you know? I know Georgie told us that this Dr. Marlene Foster worked at a hospital in Salt Lake City but how do we get there," she said frustrated, and thought of Debbie.

Her and Debbie had been estranged for a time, after being on the road for two years. Things had reached boiling point, when Susan had been killed.

"I don't ever wanna see your goddamn face here, again!" she'd screamed at Debbie. It haunted her what she had said. How she'd wrongly blamed Debbie for Susan being killed.

They had made up after a time of being distance from each other. Both of them had come to the conclusion that it was better being close together than it was being apart. Eve had never been happier.

Now it was Debbie's whole life at stake. She needed to get to this place.

Joel nods. "Well, I heard from the others this college got something. That's probably closer than Salt Lake City so we should check that out first." He looks over at the sun that was slowly rising in the east. "We're probably in Ohio by now."

She snorts. "Fucking Ohio." Joel raises an eyebrow.

"Got a problem against Ohio?" He chuckles.

Eve chuckles and shakes her head. "No. I just used to go to Penn State for my nursing degree and we had a huge rivalry against OSU." She sighs and shakes her head. "Man, the things I would do to go back to those days. Just to throw a football around and feel at peace." She shakes her head again. "I never thought those times would be just a dream."

Joel looks over at her before nodding his head. "Yeah. I understand."

She bites her lip and nods, the two of them sitting in a silent comfort.

* * *

The next morning, Daryl woke up first to check out the perimeter. He saw that Joel and Eve had passed out after a bit, so he was the first person awake.

He glances over at the group and saw Debbie sleeping quietly. It was strange to see her sleeping in so late. Usually she was the first person up like him. But it was nice to see her just relax.

He walks towards the car and then heads a sudden stuttering on the radio. Then, a voice.

"Daryl, are you there?"

He recognized that voice. It was Carol. He quickly grabbed the radio so he could answer it. He was praying that nothing was going wrong with the communities, or the Sanctuary.

"Carol, are ya alright?" He asked wearily, genuinely concerned for her wellbeing. He heard her sigh quietly. Something was going on. It was bothering Carol.

"I'm fine, it's just that more of the Saviors haven't turned up to fix the bridge. They aren't at the Sanctuary either. I'm guessing they left, but tensions are rising, Daryl," Carol explained grimly. Daryl cursed under his breath.

"What does Rick and Michonne think about the situation?" He asked grimly. Rick was clinging onto the hope that everything would work out with the militia and thinking they could all work together.

"They think the Saviors just left, but the remaining Saviors want guns but Maggie, Jesus, me, Cyndie and Ezekiel put our foot down on that matter," she said tiredly. Daryl sighed.

This wasn't gonna work. Rick's hope for a better future was a train wreck waiting to happen. Daryl knew that Rick was grieving for Carl, but this thing with the Saviors wasn't going to work.

It just wouldn't work.

"Anyway, enough talk about the Saviors. How's your trip with Beth, Joel, Ellie and the Abrams family going?" She asked curiously, genuinely wanting to know how Daryl and the others were doing.

"Goin' alright. Had an encounter with a group of men that tried to kill us, but we got away. We sent two kids to the Hilltop, they're good, and the youngest is only thirteen," Daryl explained finally, glad to know that Carol was alright.

"Do you think that Debbie's blood can be used to create a vaccine, Daryl?" Carol asked wearily. She sounded weary and distrustful at the thought of there being a cure.

"Dunno. We'll find out once we get to Salt Lake City. Look after yerself Carol, tell Maggie, Hershel, Gracie, Aaron, Henry, Judith and Hershel that we love em," Daryl said quietly. Carol said goodbye to him.

"Take care Daryl, and keep in touch," she said softly. She left as Daryl looked at the radio, before seeing Debbie come over with two plates that had deer meat on them.

"Everything alright?" She asked quietly. Daryl nodded. Debbie looked lost in thought as they ate their breakfast.

* * *

After everyone had finished eating, they packed up the tents and began driving on the back roads, hoping to find shelter to rest for a couple of nights. After driving for two hours, they came across an abandoned house that had seen better days. Daryl, Debbie, Cain and Beth checked it out, and saw the family had committed suicide.

 _'MAY GOD FORGIVE US!'_ had been written on the wall in blood. The bodies were skeletal. They'd been here for a while. She guessed the family hadn't been able to cope with what was going on, so they opted out.

"Lets search for supplies. Looks like no one's been here before us, so maybe we'll get lucky," Cain said finally, running a hand through his dark blondish, brown hair.

Everyone nodded and started looking around. Debbie headed upstairs to see what they could find, and Beth went with her. Daryl decided to check the garage with Joel and Cain, while Ethan searched the basement with Eve.

The rooms were virtually untouched. There was a coating of dust everywhere. Debbie saw a fourth generation Apple IPad lying on the computer desk next to a black laptop.

"I had a laptop like this. Used to listen to music and go on YouTube, and watch funny cat videos or Halloween Cake Wars. Hell, what I wouldn't give to just dance again or bake a cake. Or ride a horse or cuddle a cat or dog...God..." she said wistfully, a hint of melancholy in her voice.

Beth looked at her quietly, knowing that deep down despite everything she had done, Debbie was a good person. She was just lost and bitter over everything.

"What kind of dance did you do?" She asked curiously, trying to cheer Debbie up. The older blonde haired woman smiled as she remembered.

"All kinds," she says quietly. "I used to dance to everything. It was a form of a stress relief I had." She sighs. "Just wish I could do more."

Beth looks at her softly. "Well, maybe one day you will."

Debbie snorts. "Alright, Beth. I'll hold onto that hope."

* * *

Daryl searches through some boxes as he looks around, before glancing back at Ethan. "Find anything?"

"Nothing, just a whole load of empty fuel tanks that are useless, but I found some maps," Ethan said dismayed, and kept on searching through the boxes.

Daryl found some hardware tools that he put in the back of the truck, and a toolbox that looked untouched. He put it in the truck and kept on looking around.

Aside from the toolbox, and a few maps that they'd found in the garage, there weren't a lot of supplies. He did find a pair of fingerless black leather gloves though and wished that he had his poncho with him. He searched around for a leather jacket that he could wear and found it one of the boxes.

"Found some fuel tanks that haven't gone bad. I'll put them in the truck," Ethan offered. Daryl nodded and helped him carry it to the truck that they had hid in the garage.

The last thing they needed was a group or someone, trying to steal their stuff while they were in the house. That was something, they couldn't let happen.

"This place reminds me of my grandmother's farm in a way. It has the same styled house. I just wish we were at her ranch, but knowing our luck, someone's either ransacked it or living in the house," Ethan said distantly. Daryl looked at him and remembered what Cain had said about how their mother was emotionally and physically abusive.

"Did yer momma hit ya all, or did she just yell at all of ya?" Daryl asked quietly. Ethan sighed bitterly as he remembered the abusive childhood under their mother.

"It wasn't so bad with me, Cain and Eve but Debbie got it the worst and it got even rougher, especially after she became deaf after getting sick with meningitis. Our mom moaned about the medical bills, and how she wasn't going to spend thousands of dollars for an expensive hearing aid. You can imagine how happy she was when the doctors said Debbie was only partially deaf," he said bitterly, and went to check the other room.

Daryl took in his words silently. Christ, no wonder she hated talking about her mom.

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


	11. Haunting Words

Summary: Five years since the walker outbreak occurred in 2010, Debbie Abrams is taking one day at a time, when the unthinkable happens. Daryl Dixon is trying to keep the group together, despite the growing distance between him, Rick and Michonne over keeping Negan alive. He finds himself escorting a young woman across the USA, after surviving being bit. Co-Written with WalkingPotterGirl14.

Endure and Survive

Chapter 11

* * *

After searching the whole house, it was decided that they would rest for a couple of days, before trying to decide which was the best route to the college. Highways were out of the question. They were used as traps or completely blocked by roadblocks and car pile ups.

Everyone took a shower after Cain, Joel and Daryl got the hot water going. Debbie was now staring at the blood and dirt swirl down the drain.

Hot water was a luxury to most people. The Commonwealth had hot water, electricity and power thanks to the solar panels, electrical grid and wind mills. Not to mention they had a few engineers living there who knew how to work the place.

Despite having lived there for only two years, Debbie felt like she didn't belong there with those people. None of them had known what it was like. To survive on the road and fight for survival every single day against walkers and people.

The times they lived in were merciless and Debbie knew that even if a vaccine was made, life wouldn't go back to normal. For all they fucking knew, the president could be dead and that would be causing a few issues.

She sighed and washed her hair intently. She used some of the shampoo there and then some of the conditioner, sighing quietly.

She'd never felt so happy washing her hair, face and body as she did then, and looked at her bite mark. It was scabbed up, but no longer angry red and sore, or itchy. She liked the thought of having a rose tattoo to cover it up, as she'd always liked roses.

She wondered if Daryl was serious about her giving her a tattoo. That would be the most amazing thing. If she had the chance to cover up this nasty eye sore and just leave it be.

What a dream that would be.

Debbie sighs and steps out of the shower, wrapping a towel around herself. She wasn't used to showers now, so when she stepped out of it, that familiar coldness tanked into her body. She quickly exits the room and heads towards the bedroom she had given herself.

As she walks, she notices a door opened. Her curiosity peeks her interest, and she glances inside. Her heart stops.

It looked like Daryl had just finished taking a shower himself. But he wasn't completely dressed. He had on pants but his back to her was completely exposed. Her eyes first went to the tattoo that was on his right shoulder. It was like two devils wrestling with each other. And then her eyes moved towards the scars.

Multiple scars, all that looked like they were from a beating or two. There was one particularly long one that stretched across his back and was angry. That must have been the worst hit of his life.

The man puts on a shirt and she snaps out of her revere, quickly turning away so she shouldn't get caught. Fuck. She had known Daryl's father had hit him, but she didn't know that it was that bad.

Debbie quietly walks to her room, closing the door behind her. She needed to get changed, not focus on his body.

He was...surprisingly muscular for someone his age.

She chuckles and shakes her head. "Stop," she mumbles to herself before placing some clothes on.

* * *

Later on, that night, the group gathered around the living room table and decided that they head via the scenic route. "There are no doubt going to be less people there," Ethan had said. "We go that way, we'll get to the college quicker."

After that, they had enjoyed a meal of the meat they caught. Ethan at one point had found some alcohol in one of the cabinets. And Debbie saw the smile that entered his face.

"How about we play a drinking game?" He asks them.

Debbie raises an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, really. We deserve some fun after the shot we've gone through so far and we're safe here for the night." He brings over the beer and vodka and sits down. "We should do like strip poker or never have I ever or something like that. Anything to take our minds off the shit that's outside our door."

Debbie smiles a bit. "Well, I've always been a boss at poker so all of ya'll would be naked in minutes. Let's do never have I ever."

"Alright, sis, you're on!" Ethan said amused. Cain got out a bottle of Jack Daniel's Tennessee whisky for all of them, and poured it into shot glasses.

"Never have I ever been arrested by the cops," Joel said dryly. Eve stared at him in surprise, but Cain, Daryl and Ethan took a shot of whisky.

"What did you do that got you arrested by the cops?" Ellie asked astonished. She and Zoe had been given Dr. Pepper instead of alcohol, much to their displeasure.

"Got into a bar brawl with my brother against with these group of assholes one night," Cain said wryly. Ethan laughed. Eve was the next one to go.

"Never have I ever had a one night stand," she declared defiantly. Joel didn't take a drink. Neither did Beth or Ethan. Cain, Daryl and Debbie took a shot of the whisky. Everyone laughed. Daryl looked at Debbie as she finished her shot of whisky. She was no longer smiling, and there was a distant expression on her face.

He watched as she left silently, the others too immersed in talking. But Beth nodded. He followed after Debbie. She'd gone outside and was putting on a black sweater over her tank top.

He sensed that she wanted to be alone, and after making sure that she was alright, he silently left. He knew when someone wanted to be alone, and Debbie wanted a bit of peace.

* * *

Once Debbie had gotten a bit of space from the others, and the noise had been aggravating her ears, she headed back inside to see the others were still playing the game.

"I have never backed out of getting a tattoo," Debbie said quietly. Daryl didn't take the shot. He didn't regret any of his tattoos on his body.

"I think we should start heading to bed. I'll take watch, Deb," Cain said quietly. Debbie nodded and said goodnight to all of them. She saw Beth and Ethan head upstairs.

"Night Beth. Keep drinking water to avoid getting a hangover. You won't regret it," Debbie advised. Beth nodded in thanks and left until it was just her and Daryl in the room. She didn't like drinking, due to having seen her mother in a lot of drunken rages and being on the receiving end of them.

Even though she was close to her siblings, there would forever be a gab between her and Eve. Because of the hurtful words she had said two years ago, after Susan's death which had been caused by Lucas.

* * *

 _Debbie felt numb, completely numb and cold as she stared at the battered, bloodied body of her beloved niece. Blood stained the ground, around Susan's head from the gunshot to the side of the forehead she'd gotten from the Saviors._

 _It should have been her. The man called Simon had told the woman called Regina to set her on fire if Lucas didn't hand over half of the supplies that he'd stolen from them._

 _That fucking asshole. She was going to kill him when she got her hands on him. So, help her god._

 _"Eve, let's get you into the house, sis. C'mon, let's get you up," she whispered quietly. She made to help her up, when Eve spun around and slapped her hard across the face._

 _"This is your fault what happened! My daughter's blood is on your hands, Debbie! NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADN'T ROBBED NEGAN AND HIS PEOPLE!" Eve screamed enraged and started hitting her again._

 _Debbie felt like something inside of her was being ripped apart. She hadn't robbed Negan and his people. It had been Lucas who had done that and pissed them off._

 _"It wasn't me, Eve! I swear to God, it was Lucas who did it! I wouldn't put any of you in danger, I swear!" Debbie implored pleadingly, but Eve wasn't listening to her. Cain and Ethan were trying to calm her down, while Zoe was cleaning up her sister's body._

 _"I don't ever wanna see your goddamn face around here again, Debbie, or near my daughter! Just stay away from us! We're better off without you!" Eve said spitefully Debbie felt like she'd been punched in the heart._

 _Numbly, she went inside the farmhouse and upstairs to her bedroom, packing her things, and her toiletry bag. She flung it into her backpack and headed outside._

 _"Debbie you don't have to leave. Eve didn't mean it," Cain said comfortingly, but the look on Eve's face spoke volumes, and she knew that her sister had meant it._

 _Debbie shook her head and hugged him tightly, trying to tell him that she'd be alright. But Cain was the eldest, and trying to fix things, but this he couldn't fix. Ethan joined the hug and looked distraught as she said goodbye to Zoe._

 _She then started walking down the lonely road, alone, as it started raining heavily. Tears streaked down her face. She kept on walking but wasn't going to forget or forgive this.  
_

* * *

Debbie shook her head violently and shuddered, before heading outside onto the porch. She pulled out another cigarette. Christ, she needed a smoke badly and tried to use her lighter, but it wasn't working.

A hand with a black star tattoo offered her a lighter, and she took it gratefully, as she lit up her cigarette and inhaled it. It was going to cause her lung problems, but she didn't care.

God, she'd give anything to ride a horse or just listen to music.

"Ya okay?" She glances over and sighs once she sees it was just Daryl. She must have been so intoned with her thoughts that she didn't even notice he was the person who offered her the lighter.

"Yeah, I'm good," she whispers. "I've just been thinking about everything that's happened before this. Before getting this bite. Before meeting all of you." She bites her lip and looks down at her arm. "It's much has happened. And I don't know how to react to it."

Daryl looks at her quietly, silently taking in what she was saying. A moment later, she shakes her head.

"You know, Eve and I used to be a lot closer."

Daryl's brow furrows. "What do ya mean?"

"I mean, we used to be a lot closer."

"Ya look close from what I've seen." She shakes her head.

"Then you've seen nothing. We were the only two girls in the family. We had to stick together. And that meant that we became closer than close. We really were family. I was there when he children were born…and that's why losing Susan was so painful for me." She looks down at the ground. "She blamed me for her death."

His brow raises. "She did?"

"Yeah. Negan came to our zone because some of our men had stolen supplies from the Sanctuary. Eve thought it had been me who had done that, but it was her fucking husband that she had. But she had believed it was me. From there, she kicked me out onto the road. I was by myself for a whole year."

He was silent. She looks over at him as he blows out a puff of smoke. "That's fucking rough, Deb."

She bites her lip and nods. "I know. I was doing alright for surviving on my own. And then Cain all of a sudden found me and brought me back no matter what I said to him. It was like I couldn't get it through his head that they didn't want me there. But he's the oldest, he always had to feel like fixing our issues. I understand." She sighs. "But ever since then, I've always felt like Eve and I just haven't been as close. We made up and all but…that year still haunts me. The things I did, Daryl…it would make anyone shake their head in disgust."

Daryl takes another drag of his cigar and shrugs. "Like I told ya, we all done bad shit. Did some bad shit before we started rebuilding this community. Just always what we did. Ya gotta blow some heads off to rebuild the world and keep 'em away from the crazies."

Debbie snorts. "Blow some heads off? A man of words you are, Dixon." She smiles a bit and leans her head back against the wall, looking off into the stars. Daryl looks over at her and noticed how young she looked when she smiled. How the light was back in her eyes. How she didn't seem so bitter and tense. She just looked…happy.

"So," He clears his throat. He usually wasn't one for making conversation, but he knew that a part of him wanted to see her smile more. "I heard ya talkin' to Beth a bit back about dancing. Ya used to dance?"

Debbie laughs and nods her head. "I did all kinds of dance. I loved music. With how bad one of my ears are, I solely revived myself on vibrations of music that would come up through the grounds. Everyone always thought it was amazing. How a girl who was partially deaf could keep up with a beat AND make the dance look amazing. I was a bit of a hidden wander." She shakes her head. "It's not like I need any use for that now. What about you? What was your life like before?"

He was quiet. She instantly starts to talk.

"Sorry, I just…I didn't know if you were okay with-"

"It's fine, Debbie." He looks over at her. "I already told ya about my pa. Ain't nothing more personal than that shit." She nods her head. "Didn't do much. Went around with my brothers, hunted, got drunk and sat in a trailer park. Shit was nothing before the world went to crap. Only thing I was good at was fixing bikes."

She smiles. "But that's still a good thing to have in this world. You could probably find a bike now out in the wild and fix it up and ride off into the sunset."

That got a laugh out of him, and she snickered too. It was surprising to hear him laugh, but he openly did. "Can't do that, got shit back home," he states, shaking his head. "Almost wish I could."

"Who's stopping you?"

He looks back over at her, seeing the sincere expression that aligned her eyes and her lips. "A certain lady named Debbie Abrams who might be the cure for the world," he said lowly. She blushes, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Sorry," she mumbles.

He chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm just fuckin' with ya." He looks ahead. "Honestly I would. But I care for the people here…and I care about what happens to ya and yer family." He didn't miss the shit-eating grin that came across her fact. "Ah, naw."

"What happened to just a job?" she jokes. "You like us, don't you, Daryl?" She shoves him playfully and he rolls his eyes.

"Don't make me unlike ya." She snickers and steps away, raising her hands up in defence. "Ya'll are good. Fucked up, but good. Glad yer sane and not some crazy person that I gotta escort."

"Wow. That's like the best compliment I've ever gotten." Again, he rolls his eyes and she laughs.

"Go to sleep, blondie." She looks up surprised. "I'll cover watch tonight. Get some shuteye."

She smiles again. "Alright. Be safe, goodnight, Daryl." She heads inside and up the stairs. Daryl looks at the ground, letting out a low sigh.

"Night, Debbie."

* * *

The next morning, Eve woke up early to make sure they had enough fuel to get them on their way until they ran out. Hopefully if they did they could find some horses to ride to get them there.

"Morning," she says to Joel, who was looking at the engine. He nods at her, his eyes glancing at the ring on her finger.

"Morning…...mind if I ask you something?" She nods. "How come you still wear that?"

She looks at where he was nodding to and it was the ring. She sighs. "Honestly? I don't know…Lucas abandoned my sister when she was bit and I haven't even seen him…I don't even love him anymore, to be honest." She glances at her finger again. "Some former, distant memory might but I don't." She glances at him. "You ever been married?"

"Once, and that was when I was young. It didn't end well. I got custody of my daughter, Sarah. She died when all this happened, got shot and died in my arms," Joel explained quietly, remembering the night his beloved daughter had died.

"I'm sorry, Joel," Eve said sympathetically. She understood the pain of loosing a child all too well. The pain would never go away. You'd just learn to live with it.

Joel nodded in thanks. They saw Debbie come down the stairs and she was looking at a map quietly. He noticed Eve avoided looking at her, and there was a tension between them that hadn't been there before.

"I'm going on a supply run with Daryl. Going to try and siphon some fuel for the truck. Is there anything either of you need before we leave?" She asked patiently. Eve frowned as she checked through their backpacks and saw they could do with a few first aid kits, and some bandages.

"We could do with some more bandages, and maybe a first aid kit. Every little bit counts," Eve explained concerned. Debbie nodded, and Daryl came down the stairs with a list that Beth had written for him.

"Be careful out there, both of ya," Joel warned quietly. They nodded and left, as Eve watched them get in the car before driving away from the farmhouse.

* * *

They drove to a town that looked like it had been badly hit when the Outbreak had happened. Vehicles had crashed into each other or were off the road. Decomposing bodies were strewn on the floor. Some of the shop signs were missing words or had fallen off.

Daryl headed to a camping store. He knew that it was unlikely that there would be ammo, but they might find arrows. Debbie followed after him. Sure enough, the guns and ammo were gone, but there were arrows and spears, along with some hunting knives that hadn't been taken.

"Do you think they'll be there, at the college?" Debbie asked quietly, sounding vulnerable. Daryl looked at her silently. He saw that despite it all, she was wondering if they could really cure the virus.

"I dunno. Maybe they'll be there but if not then they'll be at the hospital at Salt Lake City," Daryl said finally, trying to cheer up Debbie. She smiled slightly at his words.

They left the store. Daryl tapped on the glass storefront of a pharmacy, nothing happened. He cautiously unlocked it and saw there was still stuff on the shelves.

This made him uneasy. He frowned, and from the corner of his eye, he saw a wire that led to the storage room in the back. He grabbed Debbie and gestured to the door. Understanding dawned on her face, and they cautiously avoided setting off any traps, as they grabbed anything they could.

He couldn't shake off the feeling that they were being watched. He heard the all too familiar sounds of a herd coming. Debbie must have heard it too. They hid under the counter, and could hear the rasping, wheezing snarls and growls as the herd walked by.

"Where are they?" A walker rasped menacingly. Daryl saw Debbie freeze at the voice, and she grabbed his hand tightly. Neither of them moved and remained completely still.

"They're not here, Alpha, but we're checking the area. We can't find the car that they were driving in. That blonde woman should've been dead, back in Washington when our herd bit her! I saw the damn walker bite her on the right wrist," the Walker insisted infuriated. Daryl felt his stomach drop.

Oh fuck, these were the damn walkers that were talking. The ones that Debbie and him had seen talking, back in Washington D. Fuck.

"We're gonna make a run for it. Go 'round the back, Debbie," he whispered urgently. Debbie nodded as they started sneaking round the back of the store.

After going through the back door, they headed straight to the part if the woods, where they'd hidden the truck. Daryl pulled out the keys and started up the engine, before they drove off.

"We better leave the area. They might be watching us, Daryl…and they're fucking dressing as walkers," Debbie said distrusted. She was relieved that she hadn't been seeing things back in Washington.

* * *

Beth was on watch when she saw Daryl and Debbie come back from the supply run. She could see something was wrong, and both of them looked exhausted.

"We need to leave after tonight. We saw a group of people leading a massive herd through the town. It was the same group that lured that herd to the hospital, where me and Lucas were getting supplies. They're people in walker skins," Debbie said urgently. Eve was the one who spoke up.

"Are you sure that they're near us, though? Sounds like they don't know where we are?" She questioned wearily. An uneasy silence followed.

"How about this? We all shower tonight again, eat and move on in the morning?" Joel suggested calmly, sensing the tension between Eve and Debbie.

* * *

Eve smiled gratefully, but Debbie shrugged and headed upstairs to shower, and spend some time alone.

Daryl stood under the shower, as he washed himself with the bar of soap that they'd found on a supply run. It was woodsy scented, but he honestly didn't care as long as he didn't smell like a walker.

He could hear Debbie in the en suite bathroom, and she was singing a song softly, but he could hear her. He distantly remembered Beth liking music like this.

 _"I raise my flags, don my clothes  
It's a revolution, I suppose  
We'll paint it red to fit right in  
Whoa_

 _I'm breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus  
This is it, the apocalypse  
Whoa_

 _I'm waking up, I feel it in my bones  
Enough to make my systems blow  
Welcome to the new age, to the new age  
Welcome to the new age, to the new age  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive  
Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, whoa, oh, oh, oh, I'm radioactive, radioactive."_

She finished singing. Daryl was impressed by her voice.

Damn, she had one hell of a voice.

He heard her water turn off and the subtle sounds of her footsteps being carried away. Quietly, he finished up and put back on some clothes, before heading over to where she was. She had just finished putting on a sweater.

"Hey," he says to her quietly. She looks up and nods.

"Hey…" Her brow furrows. "Why are you wearing a short sleeve?"

He looks down at his shirt, seeing what she was referring to. "I move better without 'em." She rolls her eyes before digging through one of the drawers in the room. After a moment, she pulls out a long sleeve shirt that looked to be his size.

"You might move better, but if you catch a cold today, you could die from that. We're constantly out on the road. You need to stay warm." She hands it to him. He didn't take it. "Daryl, please?"

He looks down at her quietly. He could almost see she was trying to do the puppy-dog look, like she was begging for him to be good with her. In that moment, he did want to take the shirt. To make her happy. So, he did.

"Fine," he mumbles, rolling his eyes. She smiles as he takes the shirt from her. "I'll put it on tomorrow before we leave." She nods and sits down on the bed, putting on some socks. He looks at her quietly. "Are ya scared?"

Debbie looks up in confusion. "Huh? I think everyone is scared of this world."

"Naw, not that." He comes over to the bed. "Of the walkers. Whatever those things are."

Debbie bites her lower lip, looking at her sock-covered feet. She was silent for a good minute, as if trying to compress her words right. Then, she turns back to him. "I'd like to think I'm not…but in reality, I am. I'm terrified of what those things can do. I don't even think they're normal walkers. They're just…there. And they just…talk to each other? They might dress up in walker skins, I don't know…all I know is that I shouldn't be terrified of walkers because I can't turn. But they scare the shit out of me."

Daryl looks at her softly before taking her hand. It was a surprising gesture, one she hadn't thought he would do. But she held it back either way, looking up at him. "They ain't gonna get to you or your family. They're fuckin' scary to me too."

She nods, happy that he was at least trying to install some bravery in her. It was silent between the two, until she spoke up, letting out a deep long sigh. "What about you?"

He looks over at her. "I told ya, I'm scared of 'em."

"No. What's your biggest fear?"

His biggest fear? He didn't think he told that to anyone. Not even Rick or Carol. He didn't even think he told his brothers about what he felt when it came to fear. But looking down at Debbie, how innocent she was in asking that question. How simple it seemed to answer…

"Bein' alone," he replied, glancing at where she sat, her blue eyes looking up in curiosity. "What about you?"

She looks down at the bed, letting out a deep sigh. "Losing the people, I love." She glances back up at the end, and an underlying understanding past between them. A promise that wasn't spoken. That they wouldn't leave each other. They'd keep them and their families alive. He knew it the moment they connected eyes.

"That's a right fear to have," he states.

She nods. "I know. And I'm more terrified about it happening every day."

* * *

 _Enjoy, and review :)_


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